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2023

Infrastructure Fund

Assessment

Contents

Disclaimer: 2023 GRESB Infrastructure Fund & Asset Assessment Pre-Release

The information in this document has been provided in good faith and on an “as is” basis. While we do not anticipate major changes, we reserve the right to make modifications prior to the official start of the 2023 reporting period on April 1 and the official release of the 2023 Infrastructure Fund and Asset Assessments. We will publicly announce any such modifications.

Introduction

About GRESB

Mission-driven and investor-led, GRESB is the environmental, social and governance (ESG) benchmark for real assets. We work in collaboration with the industry to provide standardized and validated ESG data to the capital markets. The 2021 Real Estate benchmark covers more than 1,800 property companies, real estate investment trusts (REITs), funds, and developers. Our coverage for Infrastructure is more than 700 infrastructure funds and assets. Combined, GRESB represents USD 8.6 trillion AUM. More than 170 institutional investors, with over USD 51 trillion AUM, use GRESB data to monitor their investments, engage with their managers, and make decisions that lead to a more sustainable real asset industry.

For more information, visit gresb.com. Follow GRESB on LinkedIn or @GRESB on Twitter.

2023 Assessments Structure

For 2023, the structure of the Infrastructure Assessments has been kept relatively stable with few changes. We will continue to review our move to shift the emphasis and scoring of the assessment from management and transparency to performance.

Grace Period

GRESB offers first-time participants the option to not disclose their Assessment results to their investors. This first year "Grace Period" allows companies and funds a year to familiarize themselves with the GRESB reporting and assessment process without externally disclosing their results to GRESB Investor Members.

While Grace Period participant names are disclosed to GRESB Investor Members, Investor Members are not able to request access to Grace Period participant results.

First-time participants wishing to opt for the Grace Period can select the option from the settings section in the Assessment Portal.

Who can see my data?

Data collected through the GRESB Infrastructure Fund and Asset Assessments is only disclosed to the participants themselves and:

All data provided to GRESB is strictly confidential and will only be disclosed to participants’ investors, with their explicit consent.

Timeline & Process

The GRESB Infrastructure Fund and Asset Assessments will be available in the GRESB Portal on April 1, 2023. The submission deadline is July 1, 2023, providing participants with a three-month window to complete the Assessment. This is a fixed deadline and GRESB will not accept submissions received after this date. GRESB validates and analyzes all participants’ Assessment submissions.

In 2020 we introduced a Review Period in the Assessment cycle to further strengthen the reliability of our Assessments and benchmark results. We will provide this process again in 2023, as we did in 2022, starting on September 1, when preliminary individual GRESB results will be made available to all participants. The Review Period will run for one month. During the Review Period, participants will be able to submit a review request to GRESB using a dedicated form. The final results will be launched to both participants and Investor Members on October 1. Public Results events and other results outputs will be scheduled in October and November.

Response Check service

A Response Check is a high-level check of a participant’s submission. The Response Check is carried out by GRESB’s third party validation provider SRI and features a careful review of your Assessment response followed by a 1-hour discussion call. It can be particularly useful for first time participants.

The Response Check does not exclude the participant from any element of the validation process, nor does it guarantee a better GRESB score. It is intended to ensure that no important details have been overlooked in the submission and provides the opportunity to ask for additional guidance and clarification on the GRESB Assessment indicators. The Response Check helps reduce errors that may adversely impact Assessment results and identifies inconsistent responses and incorrect answer formats.

The Response Check is available for request from April 1 to June 1, 2022 subject to resource availability. We strongly encourage participants to place their request as early as possible. The Response Check can be requested before the Assessment has been completed, but the scope of the review will be limited to the information filled in at the time of the request.

Guidance & Support

The 2023 Infrastructure Fund and Asset Assessments will be accompanied by indicator-specific guidance that explains:

The written Reference Guide will be published on the GRESB website during the first week of March 2023. Starting April 1, 2023, guidance is also available in the GRESB Portal through pop-up fields next to each indicator. The GRESB customer support service is open year round.

2023 Infrastructure GRESB Fund Assessment Changes

Process and Outcomes

2022 has been a transition year to establish the new GRESB Standards Development Process and for the GRESB Foundation to take on responsibility for setting the GRESB Standards. The key objectives for the 2023 Standards changes were to:

  1. Focus on the most pressing issues, expressed by Stakeholders through the latest surveys and outlined in the GRESB vision, and identified as top priorities by the Foundation.
  2. Maximize the number of changes that could be reasonably achieved in the 2023 Standards, given the shorter timeframe in 2022 to implement the new operating model.
  3. Minimize the possible disruptions to participants and members, given the more limited scope this year to provide sufficient advance notice and allow them to adequately prepare and adjust to significant changes.
  4. Follow the new process, to prioritize, design, formalize and validate the changes for the 2023 Standards.

  5. Prioritization of ESG topics for 2023 Standards

    In line with the process outlined in the new Standards Development Process (see the GRESB Standards Development Process), the GRESB Foundation work began with a series of meetings in Q2 2022 to conduct the strategic review and prioritization exercise of the key ESG themes identified as most material by the GRESB stakeholders. This year, the Foundation focused more specifically on the ESG Issues outlined in the GRESB Vision.

    Management Component

    Indicator Level Changes

    PO1

    Policies on environmental issues - Net Zero policy

    Background and Purpose: Net Zero was consistently identified as a key topic throughout the prioritization process for the 2023 Standards. The GRESB Foundation deemed the existence of Net Zero policy an important element of this update, without imposing a single definition of Net Zero. As with other policies in the Standard, this change does not assess the content of the policy but instead rewards the internal commitment to Net Zero shown by establishing a policy.

    Description of Change: Introduction of a dedicated section in indicator PO1 Policy on environmental issues addressing the existence of Net Zero policy (see indicator below).

    Scoring Impact: The overall scoring weight of indicator PO1 remains constant.The new section carries a dedicated scoring weight of 0.33 points redistributed from the section relating to other environmental issues, now worth 0.67 points.

    Reporting Impact: Net Zero policy is subject to the same reporting requirements as policies for other environmental issues. Demonstrating the existence of a valid Net Zero policy is a requirement for participants to obtain the related points. Indicator PO1 is not prefilled in 2023.

    LE1

    ESG leadership commitments - Net Zero commitments

    Background and Purpose: Net Zero was consistently identified as a key topic throughout the prioritization process for the 2023 Standards. The GRESB Foundation deemed making a public Net Zero commitment to a third party initiative an important element of this update as it demonstrates action and disclosure towards this topic. As with other commitments in the Standards, this change does not assess the content of the commitment but instead rewards the intention shown by making a public Net Zero commitment.

    Description of Change: The scope of indicator LE1 ESG Leadership Commitments is expanded to include a Net Zero commitments-specific section. This new section includes a check list of predefined Net Zero commitments (see indicator below) as well as an ‘Other’ option for relevant commitments not on this list.

    Scoring Impact: The indicator has the same overall score of 1.1 points. The new section has a dedicated score worth 0.22 point and the rest of the indicator is reweighted to 0.88 point.

    Reporting Impact: Net Zero commitments are subject to the same reporting requirements as general ESG commitments. Participants are required to provide a hyperlink to corroborate the existence of their Net Zero commitment(s). There is no one definition or methodology for making a Net Zero commitment, as long as it relates to an existing third party standard or principle related to Net Zero. LE1 is not prefilled in 2023.

    LE3

    Individual responsible for ESG, climate-related, and/or DEI objectives - DEI Governance

    Background and Purpose: The GRESB Foundation recognizes the importance of strengthening social issues in the Standards and this year DEI emerged as a priority from surveys of GRESB members. The initial focus for DEI is on the efforts made by organizations in this space, including DEI Governance.

    Description of Change: A new section is added to indicators LE3 Individual responsible for ESG and/or climate-related objectives and LE4 ESG and/or climate-related senior decision-maker to address DEI governance, covering the same elements as previously covered in the indicators in relation to climate governance.

    Scoring Impact: The overall score for indicators LE3 and LE4 remains unchanged at 1.1 points for LE3 and 1.5 points for LE4. The new sections related to DEI governance have a dedicated score of 0.22 points for LE3 and 0.3 points for LE4.

    Reporting Impact: Participants are required to have a dedicated employee for whom DEI is a core responsibility to score full points in the new section in LE3, and have a senior decision maker accountable for DEI to score full points in the new section in LE4. Indicators LE3 and LE4 are not prefilled in 2023.

    LE4

    ESG, climate-related, and/or DEI senior decision-maker - DEI Governance

    Background and Purpose: The GRESB Foundation recognizes the importance of strengthening social issues in the Standards and this year DEI emerged as a priority from surveys of GRESB members. The initial focus for DEI is on the efforts made by organizations in this space, including DEI Governance.

    Description of Change: A new section is added to indicators LE3 Individual responsible for ESG and/or climate-related objectives and LE4 ESG and/or climate-related senior decision-maker to address DEI governance, covering the same elements as previously covered in the indicators in relation to climate governance.

    Scoring Impact: The overall score for indicators LE3 and LE4 remains unchanged at 1.1 points for LE3 and 1.5 points for LE4. The new sections related to DEI governance have a dedicated score of 0.22 points for LE3 and 0.3 points for LE4.

    Reporting Impact: Participants are required to have a dedicated employee for whom DEI is a core responsibility to score full points in the new section in LE3, and have a senior decision maker accountable for DEI to score full points in the new section in LE4. Indicators LE3 and LE4 are not prefilled in 2023.

    RM3.3

    Physical risk identification - Physical Climate Risk (PCR)

    Background and Purpose: PCR was identified as a priority topic by GRESB members and it is a critical aspect of the widely adopted reference framework TCFD, to which the GRESB Standard seeks continuous alignment to. The GRESB Foundation made PCR a focus of work this year by strengthening the prominence of existing content, with more research and development to follow for future years in this subject area.

    Description of Change: Introduction of scoring to existing indicators RM3.3 Physical risk identification and RM3.4 Physical risk impact assessment. No impact on the underlying content of those indicators.

    Scoring Impact: Indicators RM3.3 and RM3.4 are now worth 0.5 points each. Scoring weight is redistributed within the Risk Management aspect of the Standard. Reallocation of scoring weight from other indicators is based on reporting behavior analysis assessing to what extent indicators are no longer key differentiators between participants (see full reallocation below).

    Reporting Impact: Participants are required to conduct PCR identification (RM3.3) and PCR impact assessment (RM3.4) to score full points. Evidence upload is required to complete the indicators. RM3.3 and RM3.4 are not prefilled in 2023.

    RM3.4

    Physical risk impact assessment - Physical Climate Risk (PCR)

    Background and Purpose: PCR was identified as a priority topic by GRESB members and it is a critical aspect of the widely adopted reference framework TCFD, to which the GRESB Standard seeks continuous alignment to. The GRESB Foundation made PCR a focus of work this year by strengthening the prominence of existing content, with more research and development to follow for future years in this subject area.

    Description of Change: Introduction of scoring to existing indicators RM3.3 Physical risk identification and RM3.4 Physical risk impact assessment. No impact on the underlying content of those indicators.

    Scoring Impact: Indicators RM3.3 and RM3.4 are now worth 0.5 points each. Scoring weight is redistributed within the Risk Management aspect of the Standard. Reallocation of scoring weight from other indicators is based on reporting behavior analysis assessing to what extent indicators are no longer key differentiators between participants (see full reallocation below).

    Reporting Impact: Participants are required to conduct PCR identification (RM3.3) and PCR impact assessment (RM3.4) to score full points. Evidence upload is required to complete the indicators. RM3.3 and RM3.4 are not prefilled in 2023.

    RM3.1

    Transition risk identification - Transition Risk (TR)

    Background and Purpose: Alongside PCR, TR is a critical aspect of the widely adopted reference framework TCFD, to which the GRESB Standard seeks continuous alignment. As both TR and PCR are treated similarly in the Standard, the GRESB Foundation also focused on strengthening the prominence of existing content relating to TR.

    Description of Change: Introduction of scoring to existing indicators RM3.1 Transition risk identification and RM3.2 Transition risk impact assessment. No impact on the underlying content of those indicators.

    Scoring Impact: Indicators RM3.1 and RM3.2 are now worth 0.5 points each. Scoring weight is redistributed within the Risk Management aspect of the Standard. Reallocation of scoring weight from other indicators is based on reporting behavior analysis assessing to what extent indicators are no longer key differentiators between participants (see full reallocation below).

    Reporting Impact: Participants are required to conduct TR identification (RM3.1) and TR impact assessment (RM3.2) to score full points. Evidence upload is required to complete the indicators. RM3.1 and RM3.2 are not prefilled in 2023.

    RM3.2

    Transition risk impact assessment - Transition Risk (TR)

    Background and Purpose: Alongside PCR, TR is a critical aspect of the widely adopted reference framework TCFD, to which the GRESB Standard seeks continuous alignment. As both TR and PCR are treated similarly in the Standard, the GRESB Foundation also focused on strengthening the prominence of existing content relating to TR.

    Description of Change: Introduction of scoring to existing indicators RM3.1 Transition risk identification and RM3.2 Transition risk impact assessment. No impact on the underlying content of those indicators.

    Scoring Impact: Indicators RM3.1 and RM3.2 are now worth 0.5 points each. Scoring weight is redistributed within the Risk Management aspect of the Standard. Reallocation of scoring weight from other indicators is based on reporting behavior analysis assessing to what extent indicators are no longer key differentiators between participants (see full reallocation below).

    Reporting Impact: Participants are required to conduct TR identification (RM3.1) and TR impact assessment (RM3.2) to score full points. Evidence upload is required to complete the indicators. RM3.1 and RM3.2 are not prefilled in 2023.

    Newly added indicator

    Indicator Level Changes

    T1

    Net Zero Targets - Net Zero targets

    Background and Purpose: Net Zero was consistently identified as a key topic throughout the prioritization process for the 2023 Standards. The GRESB Foundation deemed setting a Net Zero target an important element of this update as it demonstrates a key aspect of an entity’s plan to reach Net Zero. Details relating to the characteristics of Net Zero targets are included in this change, but they are not assessed. The GRESB Foundation will carry out further work to assess if a single definition of Net Zero can be developed to enable the assessment of the characteristics of Net Zero targets.”.

    Description of Change: Newly developed indicator T1 Net Zero Targets allows participants to report a target aligned with Net Zero. The indicator collects several underlying characteristics of the target (see indicator below). The indicator includes an open text-box allowing participants to provide qualitative supporting information regarding the strategy to achieve the target.

    Scoring Impact: No impact on scoring.

    Reporting Impact:Participants are required to report on all underlying characteristics of their Net Zero target.

Entity & Reporting Characteristics

Entity Characteristics

2022 Indicator

Reporting Characteristics

2022 Indicator

Leadership

Leadership

2022 Indicator

1.1 points , G

1.5 points , G

1.1 points , G

1.5 points , G

1.5 points , G

Policies

Policies

2022 Indicator

1 point , E

1 point , S

1 point , G

Targets

Targets

2022 Indicator

Not scored , E

Reporting

Reporting

2022 Indicator

3 points , G

1.5 points , G

Not scored , G

Risk Management

Risk Management

2022 Indicator

4.9 points , G

4.9 points , G

Climate-related Risk Management

2022 Indicator

Not scored , G

0.5 points , G

0.5 points , G

0.5 points , G

0.5 points , G

Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder Engagement

2022 Indicator

1 point , S

1 point , S

1 point , S

1 point , S