Leadership

This indicator provides the entity with the opportunity to disclose additional context to support the interpretation of its responses to the Leadership indicators, helping stakeholders better understand the entity’s approach and circumstances.

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If ‘Yes’, provide context to support the interpretation of the entity’s responses to this aspect’s indicators.

Open text box: The content of this open text box is not used for scoring, but will be included in the Insights and Benchmark Reports. Participants should use this open text box to provide further details, context, or comments related to the subject.

Terminology

Leadership

The entity’s approach to integrating sustainability into its overall business strategy, setting relevant commitments and objectives, and assigning responsibility for sustainability-related decision-making across the organization.

No evidence required.

This indicator assesses whether the entity has a documented process for board- or senior management-level oversight of sustainability issues, including how often senior leadership discusses sustainability updates.

By having a formal process to oversee sustainability issues at the board level or upper management level, an organization can ensure that risks and opportunities are not missed and actioned in a timely manner. It demonstrates that the sustainability strategy is embedded at the highest level of the organization.

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If 'Yes', select all applicable sub-options.

Board-level should be interpreted as the highest executive body of the organization; this can be an executive or management board. Typically, these bodies will have formalized documents to govern their functioning.

Terminology

Board-level

The highest executive body of the organization, which may be an executive board or management board. Board-level should be interpreted as the most senior body with formal oversight and decision-making authority on behalf of the organization. These bodies typically operate under formalized documents that govern their structure, roles, responsibilities, and functioning.

Management-Level

The level of the organization responsible for managing operations and implementing strategic objectives. Management-level should be interpreted as senior individuals or bodies with formal responsibility for day-to-day decision-making and the implementation of sustainability-related matters. These roles are typically defined through formalized responsibilities, reporting lines, or governance documents.

Sustainability issues

Topics related to environmental, social, and governance performance that are relevant to the organization’s activities, responsibilities, and decision-making.

No evidence required.

The scoring of this indicator is equal to the sum of the fractions assigned to the selected options and respective sub-options, multiplied by the total score of the indicator.

• Background on Board oversight is available from Amiraslani (2025), Board Risk Oversight and Environmental and Social Performance. Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, January 9, 2025, Link.

• This indicator is aligned with CDP C1.1b.

This indicator identifies whether the entity assigns senior-level responsibility for sustainability issues and whether that responsibility is supported with appropriate resources, including a dedicated budget and staff capacity.

Clear ownership and resourcing increase the likelihood that sustainability priorities are effectively implemented and sustained.

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If 'Yes', select all applicable sub-options.

If Yes, indicate the senior decision maker’s most senior role, whether there is a dedicated sustainability team budget, and whether there are dedicated team members supporting sustainability issues (and at what FTE level).

Terminology

Board of directors

A body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization as detailed in the corporate charter. Boards normally comprise both executive and non-executive directors.

C-suite level staff/Senior management

A team of individuals who have the day-to-day responsibility of managing the entity. C-suite level staff are sometimes referred to, within corporations, as senior management, executive management, executive leadership team, top management, upper management, higher management, or simply seniors.

Dedicated employee(s) on sustainability issues

Employee(s) whose primary responsibility is defining, implementing and monitoring the sustainability objectives at entity level.

Dedicated sustainability budget

Financial resources specifically allocated to support sustainability-related activities, initiatives, and objectives within the organization.

Investment committee

A group of selected people who establish a formal process to manage the plan’s investment strategy.

Full Time Equivalent (FTE)

Full Time Equivalent, a unit to measure the number of employed persons to make them comparable regardless of the number of working hours. FTE can be calculated by comparing the number of hours worked by an employee against the average number of hours of a full time worker. For example, if the number of hours worked by an employee in a week is 20, and the standard full time work week consists of 40 hours, the employee is counted as 0.5 FTE.

Fund/portfolio manager

A person or a group who manages a portfolio of investments and the deployment of investor capital by creating and implementing asset level strategies across the entire portfolio or fund.

Senior decision-maker responsible for sustainability-related issues

A senior individual with sign off (approval) authority for approving strategic sustainability objectives and steps undertaken to achieve these objectives. The responsible person oversees day-to-day execution, coordinates relevant stakeholders, and ensures progress towards define sustainability goals, but does not hold final-sign off authority for approving strategic decisions.

Sustainability issues

Topics related to environmental, social, and governance performance that are relevant to the organization’s activities, responsibilities, and decision-making.

No evidence required.

The scoring of this indicator is equal to the sum of the fractions assigned to the selected options and respective sub-options, multiplied by the total score of the indicator.

This indicator evaluates whether the entity links financial benefits to the achievement of annual sustainability targets for relevant personnel groups.

Aligning incentives with sustainability objectives embeds accountability into decision-making and day-to-day management, supporting delivery and improving the likelihood that commitments translate into measurable action and outcomes.

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If 'Yes', select all applicable sub-options.

Other: State the other personnel group(s) eligible for financial benefits. Ensure that the other answer provided is not a duplicate of the selected option above.

Terminology

Annual performance targets

Targets set in annual performance reviews, which are assessments of employee performance.

Asset manager

A person or group of people responsible for developing and overseeing financial and strategic developments of real estate investments at asset level.

Board of directors

A body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization as detailed in the corporate charter. Boards normally comprise both executive and non-executive directors.

C-suite level staff/Senior management

A team of individuals who have the day-to-day responsibility of managing the entity. C-suite level staff are sometimes referred to, within corporations, as senior management, executive management, executive leadership team, top management, upper management, higher management, or simply seniors.

Dedicated staff on sustainability issues

Individuals whose core responsibility is to address sustainability issues.

Investment committee

A group of selected people who establish a formal process to manage the plan’s investment strategy.

Financial consequences

Predetermined monetary benefits (or detriments) incorporated into the employee compensation structures. Examples include bonuses, raises, profit-sharing, financial rewards, and financial incentives. The financial consequences are contingent upon the achievement of the annual performance targets.

Fund/portfolio manager

A person or a group who manages a portfolio of investments and the deployment of investor capital by creating and implementing asset level strategies across the entire portfolio or fund.

Evidence

The evidence provided will be subject to manual validation.

The provided evidence must cover all the following elements:

1. Existence of sustainability-related performance targets: the evidence must demonstrate that annual sustainability performance targets are explicitly tied to the selected personnel groups.

   • If sustainability targets apply to all personnel, the evidence must clearly state this. For example, a policy or performance framework stating that sustainability goals form part of annual performance assessment for all personnel would be sufficient.

   • If sustainability targets apply only to specific personnel groups, the evidence must clearly link those targets to the selected group(s). For example, a performance framework showing that asset managers are assessed against annual sustainability KPIs would be sufficient.

2. Personnel group applicability: targets must relate to the selected personnel group as a group, rather than only to one individual within that group.

   • If the sustainability target applies to only one individual within a broader personnel group, this must be reported under the "Other" answer, rather than under the broader category.

   • If a personnel group consists of one individual only, this must be clearly explained in the supporting document, or open text box.

   • If evidence is provided for one individual within a selected personnel group, and the document or explanatory text clearly states that the same target applies to the remaining members of that group, this may be accepted as sufficient.

   • In case of selecting options relating to “Dedicated sustainability employees”, the reporting line or organizational position must be clearly explained in the supporting document, or open text box.

   • In the case of selecting “Employee for whom sustainability is one of several responsibilities”, the evidence must make clear that sustainability is not the employee’s primary role and that the personnel are not the same as those captured under any other selected personnel group.

3. Financial consequences tied to sustainability performance: the evidence must clearly demonstrate that achievement of the sustainability target has a direct financial consequence for each selected personnel group. This may include bonus eligibility, variable pay, incentive compensation, pay adjustment, or a similar financial benefit linked to performance against the annual sustainability target. It is not sufficient for the evidence to show only that sustainability targets form part of a performance review or appraisal; the document must also show the connection between those targets and the relevant financial outcome.

Examples of acceptable evidence: policy documents, remuneration frameworks, bonus scheme documentation, performance review templates for the reporting year, employment contracts, or other documentation describing how financial benefits are linked to annual sustainability targets. Sensitive information may be redacted, provided the requirements above are still clearly supported. If the consequences are not clearly defined and connected to the sustainability targets within the provided evidence, a sufficient explanation must be provided in the evidence open text box.

Other Answer

The other answer(s) provided will be subject to manual validation.

State the specific employee type and ensure the following:

• Other answers should relate to groups of employees, such as acquisition, development, or facilities teams, or specific personnel who have sustainability targets assigned to them.

• If a target relates to a single employee within a personnel group, this must be reported as an "Other" answer. The submission must include the employee's name, title, and personnel group in the open text box.

The scoring of this indicator is equal to the fraction assigned to the selected option, multiplied by the total score of the indicator.

Evidence: For selections subject to manual validation, the validation status acts as a multiplier to determine that selection's final score.

If any requirements are not met, the evidence may not be accepted, depending on the level of alignment with the requirements.

Other: The 'Other' answer is manually validated and assigned a score, which is used as a multiplying factor, as per the table below:

​Scoring Basics

Data and recommendations on personnel sustainability targets is available from Bolton and Soonieus (2024) Seven Ways to Get Sustainability Incentives Right. Boston Consulting Group, May 2, 2024, here.