People Moves: M&G Real Estate appoints Laura Jockers as Head of ESG

29/11/2022

Press Release - M&G Real Estate - part of M&G plc's £76.7 billion private assets and alternatives division - has appointed Laura Jockers as its Global Head of ESG to lead a larger, dedicated team with a shift in emphasis from Responsible Property Investment to ESG, aligning with M&G's broader policies and strategy. She reports to Jose Pellicer, Head of Investment Strategy and Research at M&G Real Estate.

In her new role, Laura will work with M&G Real Estate's global teams to drive the implementation of its ESG strategy, enhance the existing work being done by M&G's funds on net zero pathways and ensure the business continuously improves its GRESB targets. M&G Real Estate is 80% of the way towards its 2025 target to acquire green certification for half of its global real estate portfolio by value. This achievement has been recently recognised through its 2022 GRESB results in which its portfolio strategies have ranked among the best performing globally.

With 15 years' of experience working within sustainability teams for property companies, Laura joins from The Howard de Walden Estate where as Head of Sustainability she set ESG strategy for its 92-acre portfolio. Prior to this she was a sustainability consultant at JLL where she supported a wide range of real estate clients with their sustainability agendas.

Commenting on Laura's appointment, Jose Pellicer, says: "It is fantastic to have someone of Laura's calibre on the team. She is one of the leading experts in real estate ESG with a deep understanding of how the industry can play a leading role in reducing carbon emissions and how we can be ambitious with our targets." Laura Jockers adds: "This is an exciting opportunity to drive real progress and change.

M&G is already making great strides to ensure ESG is at the forefront of its global real estate portfolio and three GRESB 5-star ratings are testament to the hard work already being done. My goal is to ensure we maintain these high standards whilst also working to achieve our longer term commitments." M&G Real Estate has committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2050 across its global real estate portfolio as M&G plc aims to reduce its own carbon emissions to net zero by 2030. M&G Real Estate was one of the founding signatories of the Better Buildings Partnership's Climate Change Commitment, which aims to improve sustainability across the built environment, with the sector currently contributing approximately 40% of global carbon emissions.