While CBRE is already deeply involved in practical actions thattenants and building owners can take in the real day-to-dayenvironment of building occupancy and operations, "What the ClimateGroup brings is the influence of their members who are worldleaders and Fortune 500 companies that are working with governmentand business leaders to establish policies to accelerate thetransition to a low-carbon economy," Wilson says. Those Fortune 500companies include many tenants and building owners who are clientsof CBRE, which approaches the sustainability challenge from "anumber of perspectives," according to Wilson.

"Given the variety of services that we offer, we look at thisfrom many perspectives: from the tenant's perspective, from thebuilding owner's perspective, from the perspective of creatingawareness on both the owner side and the occupier side," she says.Wilson adds that the Climate Group has an international reach,which aligns with CBRE's plans for emphasizing the importance ofreducing carbon emissions in its international operations.

She explains that CBRE—which has a stated goal of becomingcarbon-neutral by the year 2010—has thus far been focusing most ofits efforts on the Americas because the Americas account for thelargest portion of the firm's global carbon footprint, 65%. "But weare now beginning to look at the other countries, and our plan for2009 emphasizes getting the message out globally to our othermarkets," Wilson says.