Introduction
The UK Government has set a target for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to reach Net Zero by 2050. That includes real estate. The ambition to “green” the landlord and tenant relationship can be traced back to the early 2000s, when discussions about “green leases” began in earnest, attracting comment in various legal periodicals, though initially gaining a little less traction in the market. That has changed significantly. First, green clauses are now much more common. Secondly, drafting of “ethical’ leases has moved beyond environmental concerns to embrace more diffuse notions of promoting social and governance goals – those three areas being shortened to the acronym familiar to ethical investments, “ESG”. So, the ESG lease was born. This article will consider some ...