World’s Hottest Month Sounds Alarm for Real Estate

With wildfires raging in Europe and August now confirmed as the hottest month on record, the climate crisis shows no signs of abating. According to sustainability experts, it’s never been more urgent to address how we measure and manage our planet’s real estate.

Bevan Jones, director of net zero and climate risk at sustainability services company Evora Global, said the significance of real estate in the climate crisis cannot be understated.

“Real estate is absolutely central to tackling the climate crisis,” comments Jones, “and the fact that we’re experiencing our hottest month on record should really sound fresh alarm bells for those managing this mission critical sector.”

Emissions from real estate have an enormous effect on the planet and taking clear and strategic steps to improve its impact on the world is undoubtedly one of our main priorities in this battle against climate change.

Research that real estate drives around 40% of total worldwide emissions. From manufacturing the materials used in buildings to the buildings themselves and the energy to power them, real estate determines a vast proportion of our species’ combined effect on the planet.

Meanwhile, estimates from COP26 suggest that $14 trillion of buildings are going to be uninsurable within 20 years if they fail to meet the required climate and efficiency standards.

Clearly, it’s not only the interests of the planet but also for those managing real estate, those investments rely on properly tracking and improving their environmental credentials. The real estate market has traditionally focused on historic data. Today however, it’s a very different world, where climate change is a part of our everyday lives. Governments and businesses would do well to start paying attention to this.