The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financial (PCAF), Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM) and Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) have co-launched harmonised technical guidance for the financial industry on accounting and reporting real estate operational emissions. The three organisations have outlined their recommendations for accounting procedures for both investors and banks across their direct and indirect investments across equity and debt. Its clarifications and recommendations include definitions for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from real estate, including a review of operational carbon versus embodied carbon, as well as how the guidance relates to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. Further, the technical guidance outlines recommendations for the application of market- and location-based emissions methods, quality assurance and verification, and the estimation of incomplete data. “The purpose of this document is to provide stakeholders with transparent, consistent, and harmonised guidelines for the accounting and reporting of real estate-related operational emissions,” the report said. “Such guidelines are crucial to the credibility of information on financed emissions and the subsequent decision-making by investors.”
