UNEP, Brazil, France and Kenya Join Global Investors at Sustainable Real Estate Forum's Climate Week NYC Debut

Held on 22–23 September, the programme featured speakers from Tishman Speyer, SL Green Realty Corp, Schroders, DWS, IQ-EQ, Heidelberg Materials, INREV, RICS, UNEP, UNEP FI, GlobalABC, GCCA, pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Systemiq, among others, alongside government representatives from Brazil, France and Kenya who co-lead the UNEP-hosted Intergovernmental Council for Buildings and Climate (ICBC).

"In New York we brought government leaders, global investors, lenders and industry to the same table. The capital is ready, but it needs evidence it can defend. Our role is to bring these decision-makers together and turn those conversations into research the market can use," said Peter Panayi, Founder and CEO of the Sustainable Real Estate Forum.

Day One: 22 September

The Chrysler Building, 405 Lexington Avenue, New York

Opening Keynote: Ambassador Antônio Francisco da Costa e Silva Neto (ICBC Co-chair and Chief International Advisor, Brazilian Ministry of Cities)

The Ambassador called for climate ambition to become practical delivery that is economically viable and socially inclusive. He set out how Brazil's national housing programmes are tackling a deficit of 5.7 million households while pairing affordability with clean energy, including solar in more than 500,000 low-income homes.

"This forum brings together stakeholders who do not often sit around the same table: governments, investors, developers, financial institutions and technical experts." — Ambassador Antônio Francisco da Costa e Silva Neto

Global Launch of Blend Better Cement

Blend Better Cement is a campaign led by the UNEP-hosted GlobalABC and ICBC, the Global Cement and Concrete Association, the Cement and Concrete Breakthrough Agenda, the LC3 Project, Climate Group and Systemiq. It aims to scale blended cement, a proven technology that can achieve 50% lower emissions per tonne compared to ordinary cement, with comparable strength, durability and cost. 

Ethiopia, Tanzania, Cambodia, Uganda and Ghana have recently joined a growing coalition of governments backing lower-carbon blended cement via the ICBC's Call to Action on Blended Cement, calling for policy levers such as prioritising blended cement in public procurement and updating their national standards. 

This session featured speakers from across the cement ecosystem, from policymakers, including Ambassador da Costa e Silva (Brazil's Ministry of Cities), Philippe Deprédurand (France's Ministry of Ecological Transition), and Ruth Onkangi (Kenya's National Construction Authority); industry, including Dr Katharina Beumelburg (Heidelberg Materials), Thomas Guillot (GCCA) and Mina Hasman (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill); finance, including Scott Shell (Global Industry Hub); and international institutions, with Ruth Do Coutto (UNEP).

Speakers described Heidelberg Materials' new calcined clay plant in Ghana and how Kenya's performance-based building code and green finance are creating demand.

You can find out more about the campaign here.

Occupied, Certified, Refinanced: What Triple-A Means Now

Moderated by Cecile Babcock (SREF), with Paul Rode (Tishman Speyer), Hyon Rah (DWS), Emily Kildow (SL Green), Jonathan Iger (Sage) and Jonathan Gritz (WellStat), the panel described a shift from a "flight to quality" to a "flight to experience," naming building data as the main operational gap.

"The idea is to identify the large unseen capital projects that may kill your pro forma a few years out." — Paul Rode, Head of US Engineering, Tishman Speyer

World-Leading Innovation Case Studies

Three companies showed climate technology at work:

Gigaton: Buffy Price presented how Gigaton is cutting costs and CO2 emissions from cement production with AI process control and optimisation.

"Our Self-Learning Control improves clinker quality, reduces fuel consumption and cuts costs and carbon, no matter what blend of cement you make. Together, we can decarbonise cement, fast." — Buffy Price, Co-Founder, Gigaton

WellStat: Jonathan Gritz showed how real time energy data unlocks a treasure trove of cost reduction opportunities, and when combined with occupancy data and air quality monitoring, can deliver the full potential of operational savings.

"Buildings organically produce data, the trick is to capture it and turn it into better decisions." — Jonathan Gritz, Senior Vice President, WellStat

Optiml: Evan Petkov set out how decision intelligence helps managers turn portfolio data into defensible decarbonisation and capital allocation decisions.

"Every asset has a decarbonisation pathway at this point. Investors want to know which one protects value, and when, so it can actually be funded, approved and delivered." — Evan Petkov, Co-Founder and CEO, Optiml

The Trillion Dollar Housing Transition

Moderated by Cecile Babcock (SREF), with Jeff Rupp (INREV), Nico Dehnert (Optiml), Layalee Ramahi (UNEP FI), Roland Hunziker (GlobalABC) and Lara Knapwost (pbb).

Drawing on SREF's forthcoming white paper, developed with INREV, PATRIZIA, the European Mortgage Federation, RICS and Optiml, panellists agreed that capital for the housing transition exists but needs clearer signals and decisions it can defend. Lenders set out how they assess borrowers' transition plans, while speakers warned that physical risk, local permitting and a shrinking construction workforce are as material as regulation. The consensus: act now on no-regret measures rather than wait for perfect data.

"Doing nothing also has a cost, and it could be even greater later than if you acted now." — Jeff Rupp, Director Public Affairs, INREV

"The housing transition is not short of capital or ambition; it needs clear, defensible investment decisions that protect long-term asset value." — Nico Dehnert, Co-Founder and CCO, Optiml

Day Two: 23 September

Schroders NY Office, 7 Bryant Park, New York

Opening Keynote: Roland Hunziker (Co-chair, GlobalABC, and Director Built Environment, WBCSD)

Roland Hunziker framed the day around the COP31 presidency's goal to raise electricity's share of global energy use from 21% to 35% by 2035. With buildings already using around half the world's electricity and data centres adding to demand, he argued that efficiency and a stronger business case for modernising assets will be essential.

Silent Capital, Loud Consequences

Moderated by Brad Dockser (GreenGen), with Uma Moriarity (CenterSquare), Jeff Rupp (INREV), Vincent Van Bijleveld (GREEN), Evan Petkov (Optiml), Harry Mills (Climate Champions Team) and Alexandra Faciu (RICS).

The panel — continuing the LP-focused discussion SREF began at London Climate Action Week — examined what institutional investors now expect from managers as sustainability moves from reporting into capital allocation.

Powering the Next Real Estate Cycle

Moderated by Layalee Ramahi (UNEP FI), with Tamas Mark (IQ-EQ), Hyon Rah (DWS) and Paul Bratten (Schroders).

Treating data centres as the sharpest test of real estate whose value depends on the grid, panellists agreed that power is the first question and a non-starter if not secured. Transformer lead times have risen from around six months to as long as 30, putting lease, construction and loan milestones at risk, and speakers stressed that energy, water and community strategies are now prerequisites.

"We are seeing the beginning of a new asset class: AI infrastructure, which sits between real estate and infrastructure." — Tamas Mark, Global Head of Real Assets, IQ-EQ

Special Intervention: Ambassador Antônio Francisco da Costa e Silva Neto (ICBC Co-chair and Chief International Advisor, Brazilian Ministry of Cities)

Closing the forum, the Ambassador argued that governments are judged not by the goals they announce but by the outcomes they deliver.

"Capital will go where rules are clear, data is credible, and pipelines are real." — Ambassador Antônio Francisco da Costa e Silva Neto

Join Us at Future Events

SREF's next programme is the IQ-EQ × SREF Powering Intelligence Summit in London on 3 November. For invitations to future events, new research and the Trillion Dollar Housing Transition white paper, join the SREF newsletter at www.sustainablerealestateforum.com/join-newsletter.

About the Sustainable Real Estate Forum

The Sustainable Real Estate Forum (SREF) is a global platform convening senior practitioners at the intersection of capital, innovation and climate, with a focus on decision-grade data, transition pathways and institutional capital deployment.

For further information: www.sustainablerealestateforum.com 

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