Asia Pacific Capital Markets Hub 2024 - 2025

4.1.2 Overview of ESG Developments in the mature Asia REIT Market Overall ESG performance in the Asia REIT market has made significant progress in recent years. As one example, the 2024 Singapore Governance and Transparency Index (SGTI) shows that S-REITs excel in areas such as shareholder rights protection, audit accountability, and information transparency, while placing climate change response at the core of their strategies. Beyond regulatory drivers, this progress can also be attributed to market participants’ strong emphasis on sustainability. Investors are increasingly focused on ESG risk management and its potential financial impacts, and industry best practices in the fields of ESG disclosure and ratings are reshaping the Asia REIT market, driving it in a more sustainable direction. ESG Reports: Enhancing Transparency of ESG Information Disclosure REITs in major Asia markets have widely implemented ESG practices in areas such as green building certifications, fulfilling social responsibilities, and optimizing corporate governance. Through ESG reports, they systematically disclose their policies, goals, management measures and annual performance across environmental, social, and governance dimensions. This move enhances both the operational transparency of, and investor confidence in, REITs, and promotes sharing and development of industry best practices via a range of ESG information disclosure channels. As one example, GLP J REIT, one of Japan’s largest logistics infrastructure J-REITs, has been publishing ESG reports annually since 2021.

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