Jennifer Leitsch, managing director, climate change and sustainability services at EY, participated in a video interview during REITwise 2022: Nareit’s Law, Accounting & Finance Conference held in Orlando, Florida on March 23-25.
Leitsch discussed how EY supports its clients with ESG strategy and disclosure, as well as climate change and decarbonization initiatives. She previously worked in-house at Prologis, Inc. as well.
Leitsch said that REITs that are new to an ESG journey should begin with a materiality assessment, understanding which topics are most important to the organization and stakeholders. “You can do a much more formalized, more extensive process, but if you don’t have the resources to do that, even just having a few conversations can really get you started down the right path,” she said.
Leitsch added that REITs should talk with their investors when determining which ESG frameworks and assessments to dive into.