Sustainable Finance’s Quest for Data Transparency

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The real estate sector significantly contributes to global carbon emissions and energy consumption. Approximately 37% of global CO2 emissions and 34% of the world’s energy consumption are attributed to the building and construction industry. Recognizing this, there’s an urgent need to drive sustainability initiatives within the sector, making it a prime target for promoting a net-zero future.

Surge in Sustainability-Linked Loans


Sustainability-Linked Loans have seen remarkable growth, reaching $362 billion in 2022. These loans incentivize borrowers to achieve sustainability targets validated by independent ESG rating agencies or verification parties. By aligning the interest rates with sustainability performance, these loans encourage borrowers to enhance their ESG evaluation and engage in environmentally responsible practices, contributing to global environmental conservation. In the quest for a greener and more sustainable future, the financial world has embraced the concept of sustainable finance as a catalyst for positive change. However, amidst this transformative journey, various challenges have emerged.

  1. Availability and Coverage of Environmental Data: Limited comprehensive ESG data availability affects assessments, especially for private companies, which constitute a significant portion of the global business landscape.
  2. Inconsistent ESG Scoring: Inconsistency among ESG scores across various rating agencies poses challenges in determining reliable data sources.
  3. Lack of Transparency in Sustainability Targets: The absence of industry benchmarks and regulations around disclosing Sustainability Performance Targets (SPTs) creates an opaque landscape prone to greenwashing practices.
  4. Increasing Regulatory Requirements on Carbon Disclosure: Regulators are moving towards mandating climate risk-related data disclosures, challenging banks to calculate emissions accurately across diverse lending portfolios.
  5. Lack of Real-Time Monitoring: Difficulty in obtaining up-to-date sustainability metrics from private companies impedes effective monitoring of borrowers’ sustainability targets, risking gaps in data and potential greenwashing.

Looking Ahead

As regulators worldwide emphasize the importance of climate risk-related data disclosures, the integration of IoT solutions becomes indispensable. IoT solutions hold the potential to revolutionize sustainable finance by providing a robust foundation of real-time, accurate, and comprehensive data. These solutions pave the way for informed decision-making, transparency, and offer a means to verify sustainability claims effectively.


The real estate sector’s transition towards sustainability through instruments like SLLs is critical for global climate efforts. Overcoming these challenges requires collaborative efforts among financial institutions, regulatory bodies, and businesses to enhance data transparency, standardization, and monitoring practices to ensure genuine sustainability commitments and avoid greenwashing in sustainable financing initiatives.

Source: Report “Nova! A whitepaper on accelerating sustainability with AI”