ULI C Change Summit: Sustainability, Affordability, and Physical Risk in Real Estate

What did ULI Europe’s C Change programme achieve in 2025? Our inaugural Impact Report shows how C Change is mobilising the real estate industry to decarbonise, translating collaboration into practical solutions. From 17 organisations piloting Preserve to embed transition risk into investment models, to five owner–occupier workshops convening 50+ participants and releasing new guidance on Asset Sustainability Committees, and the annual C Change Summit reaching 274 registrations (up 72% since 2022), 2025 showed real momentum from ambition to implementation. The year also saw stronger alignment across investment leaders and new insights to support neighbourhood-scale action. In 2026, the focus is on scaling what works, expanding adoption of Preserve, advancing solutions for decarbonising occupied buildings, and continuing to build a coordinated industry voice. Acknowledging Emily Hallworth, Sophie Chick and Aleksandra Smith-Kozlowska for their effort on this report 👉 Explore the full report: https://lnkd.in/en8fkUdn Want to be a part of our movement? Learn more about C Change here: https://lnkd.in/ev3cKbgy Thank you to our partners: Arup | Hines | IPUT Real Estate Dublin | PIMCO | Redevco And to our Supporters: Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors | Breakthrough Energy | La Caisse (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec) | Catella Investment Management | COIMA | J.P. Morgan | Oxford Properties Group | PATRIZIA SE | Sonae Sierra | Urban Partners #RealEstate #ClimateAction #UrbanDevelopment #AssetSustainability #CChangeProgramme #Decarbonisation

At COP30 in Brazil, housing is in the spotlight. Ministers from nearly 20 countries were invited to endorse the Belém Call for Action for Sustainable and Affordable Housing — a global effort to integrate climate action into affordable housing policy, work towards finance mobilisation, and ensure housing meets standards for efficiency, emissions, and resilience. In Europe, these same challenges are faced by market players: how can we achieve low-carbon affordable homes at scale? That’s the question driving ULI Europe’s C Change for Housing and on 19 November we’ll launch an interactive systems map, a free tool to help the industry understand barriers to progress and identify where collective action can have the greatest impact. The map highlights real solutions already transforming housing across Europe, including: ✅ Office-to-home conversions turning underused assets into energy-efficient housing in Benelux ✅ Modular micro-apartments in Berlin delivering adaptable, low-carbon living at speed ✅ Serial retrofits with prefabricated façades cutting disruption and emissions in Bavaria ✅ Innovative public finance models unlocking billions for affordable, sustainable homes in the UK These examples show that many solutions already exist but scaling them up requires the joined-up, system-level collaboration now being called for at COP30. 👉 Join our launch webinar on 19 November (2 pm GMT) to explore the map, hear from industry leaders, and help shape the next phase of action. Register now: https://lnkd.in/eq-uC3Xy What lessons from COP30’s housing commitments could shape the future of real estate in Europe? #COP30 #SustainableHousing #ULICChange #ULI #NetZeroRealEstate

Housing affordability is worsening while the need to decarbonise Europe’s housing stock has never been more urgent. Addressing one crisis without tackling the other will only deepen both. ULI Europe’s C Change for Housing programme is tackling this head-on by identifying what’s really holding back decarbonisation of existing and future affordable housing in Europe, and how the industry can overcome it. Drawing on insights from over 120 housing sector experts - including those in investment, finance, development, policy, research and more - the programme’s first output maps the systemic barriers and high-impact interventions needed to drive change. Join us on 19 November at 2pm (GMT) for the launch of our interactive systems map platform and hear from industry leaders on: 🔹 The root causes blocking the delivery of affordable, low-carbon homes 🔹 Priority intervention areas identified through industry consultation to drive systemic change 🔹 Case studies and initiatives already transforming housing delivery across Europe 🎤 Speakers include: Sophie Chick – Vice President, ESG Programmes, ULI Europe Gyorgy Sumeghy – Associate Director, Habitat for Humanity International Hilke Nijmeijer – Senior Portfolio Manager, CBRE Investment Management Gary McLuskey – Managing Director, Global Design, Greystar Europe Nicolas Bearelle – Founder and Executive Chairman, Revive Jorn Verbeeck – Urban Strategist, Dark Matter Labs Sara Candiracci – Associate Director, Arup (Italy) 19 November 2025 @ 2pm (GMT) | Online | Free to attend Register here: https://lnkd.in/e7jMFp2B Be part of the movement unlocking affordable, low-carbon housing across Europe. #CChangeForHousing #AffordableHousing #NetZeroHousing #RealEstateLeadership #ULIEurope #ULI

Real estate has made progress on climate ambition. The next phase depends on addressing a set of practical barriers that continue to slow delivery across the built environment. ▪️How do organisations manage transition risk while protecting long-term value? ▪️How do they respond to growing physical risk and resilience challenges? ▪️How can owners, occupiers and managers align around shared objectives and investment decisions? ▪️How do organisations move from strategy to implementation across portfolios and teams? ▪️And how can the industry work together on truly sustainable and affordable housing? These are the types of questions that will be explored at the ULI C Change Summit 2026 in Dublin on 5 November. Senior leaders and practitioners will come together to exchange practical insight, contribute to live workstreams and help shape the next phase of ULI's C Change programme. Bring your experience, learn from peers and help shape practical tools and outputs that can support better decisions across the industry. Registration is open, with early-bird rates currently available: https://lnkd.in/ed7CvP8A #CChangeSummit #RealEstate #Decarbonisation

C Change Summit is well underway and the message is clear: the time for bold, practical climate leadership is now. We opened the day with Lisette Van Doorn, CEO of ULI Europe, reflecting on four years of C Change and how far the industry has come, but also how much further we must go. Lisette set the tone with a powerful reminder: “We wanted to help overcome fragmentation by focusing on the biggest hurdles and co-creating solutions through collaboration.” From integrating transition risk into valuation, to launching C Change for Housing and the ULI Accelerator, she highlighted how these initiatives are moving sustainability beyond compliance and into practical, industry-wide action. Her call to action resonated through the room: “The definition of the business case is broadening… Transition planning enables us to reintroduce common sense into strategy.” Sustainability can no longer sit at the edges of the business. It must become the business. We then shifted to the global stage with the first of our keynote speakers, the Rt Hon. the Lord Alok Sharma KCMG PC, President of COP26. Reflecting on delivering COP26 during one of the most turbulent geopolitical periods in modern history, he shared both realism and optimism: Clean energy investment hit £2 trillion last year EV adoption is accelerating worldwide Solar deployment is booming, led by China Nearly 90% of global GDP is now covered by net-zero targets His warning was clear: credibility, capital and long-term resilience depend on action not ambition. Bringing it back to cities, our second keynote speaker Lamia El Aaraje, Deputy Mayor of Paris, showed what climate leadership looks like when it meets equity on the ground. She painted a vivid picture of a city transforming itself: A target of 40% reduction in traffic Closing streets around schools to cars Adding 1,300+ km of cycle lanes in 10 years Refurbishment over demolition Municipal policies to protect local shops, cinemas and community life She reminded us that climate action and social justice move forward together when policy, people and place align. More conversations and insights are still to come throughout the day. We're looking forward to it! #ClimateLeadership #Sustainability #CChangeSummit #UrbanDevelopment #SustainableCities

ULI Europe has published a new Asset Sustainability Committees Best Practice Guide through its C Change programme, highlighting practical ways to align owners, occupiers and property managers on decarbonising occupied multi-let commercial buildings. While leases and contracts define roles, there are often limited opportunities beyond this for owners and occupiers to collaborate on sustainability initiatives, discuss constraints and priorities, and agree on coordinated, building level action. A growing number of owners and property managers are responding to this by introducing asset sustainability committees (also known as green committees or sustainability forums). These are regular, building-level forums that bring owners, occupiers and property managers together to: ▪️Share and interpret environmental performance data ▪️Provide visibility of landlord decarbonisation plans and asset-level investment priorities ▪️Create a structured channel for occupiers to collaborate with owners and help shape and advance initiatives ▪️Enable peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing between occupiers ▪️Coordinate practical environmental, and in many cases social, sustainability actions and behaviour-change campaigns Based on interviews with twelve leading real estate owners and property managers across Europe, the guide provides practical guidance and case studies from PIMCO Prime Real Estate, IPUT Real Estate Dublin, Hines, BNP Paribas Real Estate, Derwent London, Pembroke and Lendlease An implementation checklist has also been published, as a standalone resource, to support delivery. Access the guide via ULI Knowledge Finder: https://lnkd.in/eqWKVYSR

As much of Europe swelters through another heatwave, the impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. If this is the new normal today, what does a 2°C or 3°C world look like for real estate? Tackling the cause of climate change matters now more than ever. That means accelerating investment into decarbonisation. While the costs of decarbonisation are often visible, the potential costs of inaction are much harder to quantify, yet potentially far greater. How will future regulation evolve? How will occupier and investor expectations change? And what will that mean for asset performance and value? That is the challenge ULI's C Change programme has been working on with 17 leading real estate organisations. On 7 July, we will launch Preserve – a new open-source tool designed to help investment and asset managers assess how future market and regulatory change associated with the transition to a low-carbon economy could affect real estate investment outcomes. Built by industry, for industry, Preserve helps users compare different decarbonisation pathways and future scenarios using a consistent methodology within the investment models they already use. Join us for the launch webinar to hear directly from the organisations that helped develop and test it. 🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/e9eB7BQ7 See the cost of climate inaction. Preserve asset value.

Europe has a critical opportunity to reshape its housing future - ensuring homes are both affordable and low carbon. On 19 November, ULI Europe will launch the first output of its C Change for Housing programme: an interactive systems map developed through research and consultation with over 120 industry experts across investment, development, policy, sustainability, housing and the third sector. This new tool reveals: | Systemic barriers preventing affordable, decarbonised housing at scale in Europe | High-impact intervention areas where coordinated action can unlock change | Leading initiatives already addressing critical challenges | Case studies of innovative projects across Europe Join the launch webinar to explore these findings, hear directly from industry leaders, and discover which intervention areas ULI will take forward in partnership with the industry to accelerate impact. 🗓 19 November 2025 | 2pm GMT | Online | Free to attend 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eWc6ef7n #ULICChange #AffordableHousing #NetZeroHousing #SystemChange

Does it pay to decarbonise? The answer is increasingly ‘yes’. But the more important question may now be: what is the financial impact of not decarbonising? The costs of decarbonisation tend to be visible, while the costs of inaction often remain hidden. For real estate owners and investors, that has direct implications for capital allocation, income, asset values and competitiveness. In her new article, Does It Pay to Decarbonise? The Real Estate Industry Is Asking the Wrong Question, Sophie Chick, Vice President, ESG programmes, ULI Europe, examines why transition risk can no longer be treated as a theoretical or distant concern. A 2024 survey of industry leaders conducted through ULI’s C Change programme found that 93% of respondents considered transition risk within investment decision-making. More than half reported allocating capital away from higher-risk assets, while 30% had divested assets because of transition-related concerns. Sophie explores the four interconnected risks owners cannot overlook, the challenge of incorporating future transition risks into financial analysis, and the need for a transparent, consistent method of comparing the financial consequences of action and inaction. Read the article on Green Street News to understand why decarbonisation is not just about generating additional value, but preserving value, maintaining competitiveness and managing risk in a market that continues to evolve. https://lnkd.in/eDxQiXCC (subscription may be required) #RealEstate #Decarbonisation #TransitionRisk

Europe’s real estate sector has no shortage of net zero ambition, but translating that into asset level action in occupied buildings remains a persistent challenge, where control, cost and benefit are often misaligned between owners, occupiers and property managers. On 5 February (12:00–13:00 GMT), ULI Europe’s C Change programme will host a launch webinar for the new Asset Sustainability Committees Best Practice Guide, exploring how asset sustainability committees (also known as green committees or sustainability forums) are being used in practice in multi-let commercial buildings. These building-level forums are one mechanism, alongside tools such as green leases and data-sharing, that organisations are increasingly using to: ▪️ improve transparency and understanding of environmental performance data ▪️ align landlord and occupier priorities ▪️ facilitate peer-to-peer learning among occupiers ▪️ support operational and behaviour change ▪️ help coordinate collective action at asset level You’ll hear directly from the experts involved in developing the guide, based on interviews with leading European owners and property managers, alongside case studies from office and retail assets showing what’s working in practice. If you’re an asset owner, property manager or real estate professional looking for practical, asset-level approaches to support sustainability delivery in occupied buildings, this session is for you. Register for the webinar: https://lnkd.in/eG_3md-X #ULI #ULIEurope #CChange #AssetSustainability #SustainabilityCommittees