Environmental, Social and Governance

Melville is considered a leading commentator on ESG-related regulatory issues related to the UK and European real estate sector. He is focused on issues including:

• assisting real estate owners looking to enhance the green premium in buildings and minimise the stranded asset risk, and improving disclosure against real estate metrics will feed into market values.
• leading and actively contributing to a dynamic, consensus-focused engagement between industry and regulators. This dovetails with the hope that regulators will endorse industry initiatives.

He advocates that there is a win-win outcome for the real estate sector collaborating with regulators in prioritising and solving the metrics and labelling challenges for real estate.

Melville – conferring with industry network contacts as well as Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) officials – spearheaded this defining 21st December 2022 submission for the UK and European real estate sector: https://www.aref.org.uk/resource/esg-metrics-for-real-estate.html

The submission represents a response to a request from the FCA for input on the development of real estate-specific metrics.

Melville welcomes the FCA’s Consultation Paper issued 25^th October 2022 with its Sustainable Disclosure Requirements:

https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/consultation-papers/cp22-20-sustainability-disclosure-requirements-sdr-investment-labels

See below the guidance response of the Real Estate Association SDR Working Group to the FCA's Consultation as well as the IPE Real Assets coverage. In this coverage, Melville refers to the FCA’s proposals as “an ESG-regulatory game-changer for UK fund managers and their investors”, and is quoted:

The labels could be “attractive to, and adopted by, fund managers and investors elsewhere”, he said.

“These are neat labels which are suitable to retail as well as institutional investors, capable of being mapped to SFDR disclosure requirements and, in the US, the SEC’s recent proposals on disclosures, and reinforce the crucial anti-greenwashing principle.

“In a real estate context, such labels could be applied to reflect different stages of an asset’s life cycle. They will be useful, for example, for funds with stranded assets but which are transitioning to ‘green’ and encourage such transition strategies. Such strategies have an important contribution in progressing the net-zero agenda.”

Rodrigues also said he could envisage market participants using the labels voluntarily “well ahead of the FCA finalising SDR next year”.

https://realassets.ipe.com/news/uk-sets-out-sustainable-fund-labels-that-move-beyond-the-eus-sfdr/10062899.article

Articles

3/2/23 - Guest view: Should UK real estate managers adopt FCA’s SDR labels?

https://realassets.ipe.com/real-estate/guest-view-should-uk-real-estate-managers-adopt-fcas-sdr-labels/10064902.articl

27/12/22: AREF: ESG Metrics for Real Estate

https://www.aref.org.uk/resource/esg-metrics-for-real-estate.html

29/7/22: Net Zero Investor: Decarbonising the real estate sector

https://www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-views/decarbonising-the-real-estate-sector

13/4/22: IPE Real Assets: UK urged to adopt real estate metrics and product labels for SDR regime

https://realassets.ipe.com/news/uk-urged-to-adopt-real-estate-metrics-and-product-labels-for-sdr-regime/10059167.article

7/1/22: IPE Real Assets Regulation: Shaping the TCFD metrics for commercial real estate

https://www.tcfdhub.org/resource/shaping-the-tcfd-metrics-for-commercial-real-estate/

10/11/21: IPE Real Assets Opinion: Ensure the right ESG metrics are applied to commercial property

https://www.tcfdhub.org/resource/ensure-the-right-esg-metrics-are-applied-to-commercial-property/

23/7/21: IPE Real Asset Analysis: Disclosure, disclosure, disclosure: Get ahead of regulation

https://realassets.ipe.com/analysis/disclosure-disclosure-disclosure-get-ahead-of-regulation/10054168.article

Jan/Feb 21: IPE Real Assets expert view: Real estate managers must prepare for SFDR. The Top expert view IPE Real Assets magazine article of 2021! 

https://realassets.ipe.com/sustainability/expert-view-real-estate-managers-must-prepare-for-sfdr/10050476.article

Seminars

19/1/23 - Carbon Intelligence Event - SDR: An ESG regulatory game changer?

https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/1409122436104473174

25/11/22 - AREF/BPF/CREFCE/INREV/IPF: How will SDR affect Real Estate?

https://www.aref.org.uk/resource/post-event-materials-sdr-re.html

25/5/22 - Carbon Intelligence Webinar: ESG in real estate: Are we about to see a metrics game changer

https://www.aref.org.uk/events/ems-event-calendar/carbon-intelligence-webinar-esg-in-real-estate-are-we-about-to-see-a-metrics-game-changer.html

23/11/21: AREF TCFD webinar: enhancing climate-related disclosures

https://www.aref.org.uk/resource/post-event-materials-tcfd-webinar-nov.html

1/9/21: AREF, INREV & IPF: FCA CP21/17 Enhancing climate-related disclosures

TCFD Knowledge Hub - webinar recording , slides

9/6/21:  Net Zero Pathways – AREF, PropertyMatch & Real Estate Investors’ Forum

https://www.aref.org.uk/resource/post-event-materials-investor-webinar-net-zero-pathways-9th-june-2021.html

7/1/21: REIF, AREF Investors & PropertyMatch: 2021 Market Prospects and Sustainable Financial disclosure

https://www.aref.org.uk/events/ems-event-calendar/investor-event-2021-market-prospects-and-sustainabile-financial-disclosure.html