Some of the biggest and most influential names in real estate fund management are failing to reduce carbon emissions, according to a new study.
Blackstone, Starwood Capital and Greystar received F grades in a report released Wednesday in the UK by ShareAction, a nonprofit that advises investors on how to make positive societal change with their money.
Brookfield Asset Management and Partners Group received an E grade in the study, which tracked 12 key standards for real estate owners to cut emissions and battle the climate crisis.
Overall, nine of the 16 global investment managers graded by ShareAction achieved less than half of those standards.
2024 was the hottest year on record, which precipitated extreme weather events across the globe.
“I think that in 2025, off the back of the hottest year on record, it’s concerning that some investment managers still have not publicly disclosed at least a net-zero commitment,” Aidan Shilson-Thomas, ShareAction research manager of climate change, told Bisnow.
“There’s significant room for improvement, and the investment managers at the top of our ranking show what is possible today.”
Denmark-based fund manager Nrep received an A grade and was the only manager to achieve all 12 of the key standards outlined by ShareAction in its report, titled Built to Last?
Savills Investment Management, Patrizia, Heimstaden and Prologis all achieved B grades.
ShareAction’s findings mirror those of an investigation undertaken by Bisnow in 2023 and 2024, which showed that almost half of the world’s 75 largest REITs, real estate fund managers and direct property owners had no plan to cut carbon emissions.
Real estate accounts for more than a third of global annual carbon emissions, making its decarbonisation efforts particularly impactful.
ShareAction stressed that its sample of 16 managers wasn’t intended to be representative — but it is big. With combined real estate assets under management of $1.7T, the 16 manage portfolios with an equivalent value to the New York City property market.
A full list of the grades received by managers is: Nrep, A; Savills Investment Management, Patrizia, Heimstaden and Prologis, B; Hines and CBRE Investment Management, C; LaSalle Investment Management, D; CapitaLand Investment, ESR Group, Partners Group, Brookfield Asset Management and Praemia REIM, E; Greystar, Starwood Capital Group and Blackstone, F.
The metrics by which ShareAction assessed the performance of managers included a publicly disclosed commitment to hit net-zero emissions in their managed portfolios by 2050, including Scope 3 emissions that come from developments and tenants; publishing interim targets on how it will get to that net-zero goal; committing to halting the installation of fossil fuel power in new schemes; and completing whole-life carbon assessments for new developments.
The data was taken from 2024 climate reports or annual reports and, as such, was often looking at 2023 policies.
ShareAction looked at public disclosure of targets and information and marked managers down if policies or commitments were vague or incomplete.
“We think that transparency is important because it makes investment managers accountable,” Shilson-Thomas said. “If people make public climate commitments, they should be able to demonstrate in a transparent way — and by that we mean a public way — how they intend to meet those commitments.”
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Shilson-Thomas said it is not holding firms to an unreasonable standard: All of the metrics are achievable, as evidenced by the fact that all 12 metrics were met by at least one of the managers.
In spite of this, he said the managers assessed were far away from demonstrating the commitment needed to hit net-zero. The three firms at the bottom of the table, Blackstone, Starwood and Greystar, hit none of the standards, receiving overall marks of 3%, 4% and 11%, respectively.
One reading of the results is that the investors who give money to fund managers aren’t putting climate change high up in their priority list. The fact that some of the firms with the highest AUM score lowest on climate action could show that it is not top of mind.
But Shilson-Thomas pushed back on this assertion.
“The real estate investment managers that score A to C in our assessment are also very successful, profitable businesses and some of the largest names in the industry, and [they] continue to attract new client capital to make real estate investments,” he said.
Bisnow contacted all the managers that received a D or below for comment on the report’s findings.
ESR and Praemia REIM did not respond. LaSalle Investment Management, Brookfield and Partners declined to comment.
Four firms did respond.
“This flawed report uses a subjective methodology that fails to capture the breadth and depth of Blackstone’s long-standing decarbonization strategies that seek to create value for our investors,” a spokesperson for Blackstone said in an emailed statement.
“The report contains several factual inaccuracies and misrepresents the rigor and intentionality of Starwood’s approach to responsible investment,” a spokesman for Starwood said in an emailed statement. “We remain committed to embedding sustainability considerations throughout the investment lifecycle to both mitigate risk and unlock long-term value for our investors.”
Greystar said it has committed to being net-zero by 2040 for landlord-controlled areas and is on track for a 25% reduction in energy use and 20% decrease in water use by 2030.
“The underlying data for the targets are externally assured and reflect our long-term approach to environmental performance,” a Greystar spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We continue to evolve our strategy in line with global best practice and work with others across the sector to improve data quality and transparency. However, we believe ESG assessments should reflect not only disclosure but also delivery and the structural differences between asset classes, ownership models and regulatory frameworks.”
“As a responsible global real asset manager, CapitaLand Investment remains steadfast in integrating sustainability considerations and ESG strategies into our fund management life cycle,” a CapitaLand Investment spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We continue to place emphasis on our decarbonisation efforts, carefully balancing between financial feasibility and meeting our sustainability targets.”
Shilson-Thomas said that to do their part to fight global warming, real estate investment managers should ideally achieve all 12 of the standards ShareAction outlined. That will get the industry where it needs to be.
But asked to pick one specific area, he said most managers omit emissions created by their tenants, arguing they fall out of their control.
While acknowledging that working with tenants to cut their emissions is hard and necessitates changes to the way data is gathered and leases are structured, Shilson-Thomas said it is not impossible — and it is vital for meaningful change, given tenanted areas account for most of a building.
“We think that if tenant emissions are missing from commitments, it undermines those commitments and it undermines climate action,” he said.