JLL revolutionises transactions and leasing negotiations with new sustainability offering

JLL has launched Green Lease Agent, a new tool that establishes effective collaboration between landlords and occupiers, facilitating acquisition checklist distribution, scoring, recommended clauses by asset class and location, alongside clause implementation tracking and monitoring. The solution is aimed at reshaping the market and supporting clients by embedding landlord-occupier sustainability collaboration within a clear legal framework, with corporate targets for reducing emissions on the horizon.

“In today's market, occupiers are prioritising sustainable buildings to meet their sustainability commitments and enhance their reputation, whilst landlords face increasing regulatory pressures and carbon reduction goals. Effective collaboration is no longer optional – it's essential,” said Juliette Medana, Head of Sustainability Consulting, EMEA Markets, JLL. "With many leases expiring over the next five years, there's a real opportunity to integrate sustainability practices at lease events and optimise costs. This is why JLL has leveraged its unique position, as both a real estate services and technology company, to provide an innovative, end-to-end solution that drives the sustainable transformation of real estate for our clients.”

Last year, JLL identified a critical two-year window for corporate occupiers looking for real estate space that reflects and supports their carbon commitments. JLL’s Green Tipping Point report found that one out of every three leases tied to a carbon commitment would expire by then – yet supply of office and industrial space that meets their criteria was lagging across major cities. For investors, the impacts of carbon commitments on real estate demand will create a tipping point where investments in low carbon buildings will start to pay dividends.

The launch of Green Lease Agent aligns with JLL’s latest client research, revealing that organisations ranked sustainability as the fourth highest priority firms across EMEA, driven primarily by energy performance, due to its environmental and financial benefits.​ The survey also revealed that 80% of clients in the region have made a sustainability commitment (vs 72% globally). Net Zero emissions targets rank as the most popular commitment for respondents (49%) when prioritising sustainability targets. 

Specific benefits of the new tool include: 

• Improves building performance by securing owner-occupier agreement for better-maintained and more efficient buildings
• Supports corporate sustainability goals by aligning owners and occupiers on building related sustainability objectives
• Contributes to cost savings by securing owner and occupier commitments to improve resource efficiency
• Tracks green leasing impact and monitors the progress across upcoming, current and completed transactions with a single portfolio view
   

“Shortages of low-carbon buildings are beginning to materialise in lease markets, with only 30% of future demand for sustainable buildings projected to be met by 2030," explained Medana. "As we fall behind Paris Agreement targets and climate risks intensify, building resilience into real estate portfolios is becoming critical to protect business continuity and minimise the cost of disruptions. Corporate occupiers are increasingly seeking leases that enable material progress toward their sustainability priorities, and Green Lease Agent can be a powerful tool to align landlords and tenants on sustainability objectives while optimising costs.”

Already operational across major client transactions, the Green Lease Agent is enabling a range of JLL’s largest global clients from various sectors to deliver substantial sustainability progress while catalysing the realisation of sustainability ambitions.

For more news, videos and research resources on JLL, please visit JLL’s newsroom.