With 869 green-rated buildings, the UAE ranks 14th globally and first in the Middle East according to the second edition of (Y)our Space report released by real estate consultancy Knight Frank.
As a country, the US leads the world table with almost 81,000 green buildings, while London topped the city list with 3,000 environmentally accredited buildings.
In the GCC, Qatar is the second best and ranks 32nd globally with 140 green-rated buildings, followed by Saudi Arabia, which 54th worldwide with 38 green-rated buildings. Kuwait and Oman have 12 green-accredited buildings each and rank 69th and 70th.
The report, which gathered responses from 400 businesses globally, said there was a growing desire for buildings and businesses to be sustainable. The survey found 40% of firms have set a net zero carbon target and, of those, 77% are aiming to achieve this by 2030.
But 87% of firms said that less than half of their current global real estate portfolios are either green or sustainable, which suggests a disconnect between real estate and wider corporate thinking on sustainability, said Knight Frank.
Faisal Durrani, head of Middle East research at Knight Frank, said that green credentials in buildings will become ‘a key battle ground’ in the post-COVID-19 economy, particularly as office footprints are also revised downward due to hybrid and remote working.
“The climate crisis has spawned a global green reawakening and businesses in the Middle East are alive to the climate challenge,” said Durrani.
Three-quarters of businesses in the Middle East sample of the (Y)our Space global survey, which represent 7,800 staff, say that their real estate choices in the future will be influenced by their net zero targets; however the vast majority say that less than 25% of their global portfolios are green or sustainable.
Durrani highlighted progress in developers delivering sustainable real estate techniques, such as the Burj Khalifa’s condensation harvesting system, and integrated wind turbines on the Bahrain World Trade Centre.
Landlords in the region will have to weigh the costs and benefits of making their buildings ‘green’ to cater to these changing views.
“As investors and businesses are increasingly factoring the green credentials of a building in their decision making, it’s clear that the saleability and lettability of non-green-rated buildings will be negatively impacted over the medium to long-term,” Durrani added.
The report said almost 60% of global respondents said that there is only a partial recognition from their wider business that occupying and utilising real estate differently will impact their ability to achieve net zero carbon and wider sustainability targets. However, 15% said that there is no recognition of this at all.
