Winter doesn’t read ESG reports

Contrary to years of forecasts and neatly plotted charts, we are experiencing one of the harshest winters in many years. The thermometer stubbornly ignores the global warming narrative, leaving the real estate market asking a simple question: what now? In office buildings, frost acts like a merciless audit. It tests user comfort, technical performance and the resilience of operating budgets. Tenants, already sensitive to service charges, begin to view energy efficiency indicators not as part of an ESG strategy, but as a very real financial safety buffer. A certificate is a certificate – but if it’s cold at the desk, sustainability quickly loses its appeal. Retail? Frost is remarkably effective at cooling enthusiasm for a quick shopping trip. Visits drop, car parks turn into battlegrounds of snowploughs, salt and ice, and shopping centres rediscover a truth the industry briefly forgot: weather still affects footfall – even in the omnichannel age. Logistics, theoretica