6 Ways business can align with SDGs and make an impact
For many companies, aligning with SDGs is the next big way to make a positive impact as an organization and attract investment dollars from increasingly climate-active investors.
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Tenant Engagement–The road to corporate sustainability
In recent years, the interests of tenants in green or sustainable occupancy have gradually grown in prominence, ranging from green and/or healthy building accreditations to optimization of resource management and mitigation of environmental footprints.
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Hong Kong is on Track to Embrace Sustainability
Governments around the world are putting policies in place to curb carbon emissions. Hong Kong is no different. It continues to make strides to protect its world-class status through its sustainable development.
Read more CaGBC launches ‘Disclosure Challenge’ to champion building data transparency
Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) launched the CaGBC Disclosure Challenge initiative to support and champion the importance of data transparency in the Canadian real estate market and encourage broader uptake of benchmarking programs across the country
Read more What role does the infrastructure sector have in delivering sustainability/ESG impact?
The phrase sustainable development is used in so many contexts that it can become incredibly confusing at times. Two of the latest phrases to be used a lot are ‘sustainable living’ and ‘sustainable cities’. So, what do these actually mean? One of the original definitions of sustainable development, the Brundtland definition[1] talks about ‘meeting the […]
Read more Digital Infrastructure Part 1: Energy
The internet is big, and it is growing bigger. This is what happens on the internet every 60 seconds, and it is but a tiny snapshot of everything that happens. Our digital lives are becoming increasingly dependent on this network, but this is having an increasing physical impact too. Alongside the visible infrastructure that crisscross […]
Read more The Business Case for ESG in Real Estate
The growing trend of ESG integration amongst companies and investors is more than a decision about doing what is socially responsible or morally right. Growing evidence suggests that ESG integration may be a key differentiator, providing organizations with a competitive advantage and leading to improved long-term financial performance compared to peers. Over 80% of corporations […]
Read more Factoring in the Environment dimension of ESG in long- term infrastructure investment
Infrastructure and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) dimensions should be natural bedfellows: after all, infra is about providing essential daily-uses services for the community, – such as transport, energy, utilities, telecommunication, social facilities, etc – underpinning the whole economic and social development. ESG has grown considerably in its importance to the investor community – in […]
Read more The Business Case for ESG – Moving from ‘Why?’ to ‘Why Not?’
The United Nations Secretary-General calls climate change “the most systemic threat to humankind” (New York Times, 2018). The World Economic Forums’ 2018 Global Risks Report (World Economic Forum, 2019), published ahead of the 2019 Davos summit, cites 3 of the top 5 risks both in terms of impact and likelihood as being environmental in nature. Reinsurance broker […]
Read more The Business Case for Environmental, Social & Governance Policies
How much time is spent writing policies and business plans which have the sole intention of detailing business growth, self-protection or increasing our market share? How much time is then spent developing relationships, investing in people or understanding customer needs? They appear to be two diametrically opposed ways of doing business. One is cold and […]
Read more The business case for ESG. Shouldn’t it just be business as usual?
Environmental Social Governance (ESG) refers to “the three central factors in measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a company or business”. These factors are becoming increasingly important investment considerations. Since 1970, there have been more than 2000 academic studies seeking to identify if there is a link between ESG and financial performance [1] – this […]
Read more The case for embedding Environmental, Social and Governance into your business
Working at Savills over the last five years has made me more aware than ever of the business case for embedding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) into the workplace. As standard, this is the set of criteria that the socially conscious use to pick and choose who they are willing to work with and can […]
Read more Crossing the Threshold: Time to make digitalization in real estate and our cities responsible, ethical and sustainable
Knightscope K5 Robotic Security Guard. Image: Shutterstock Digital disruption, proptech, cybersecurity, AI, Alexa, smart buildings, smart cities, driverless cars – these are all hot topics of discussion around real estate today. Digital technologies, which have been emerging for some time, are now integrating with each other, and their take-up is being accelerated by high levels […]
Read more 2 Issues for 2019: social value and biodiversity net gains
The importance of sustainable real assets has become increasingly evident through the positive impact they can have on returns for investors/owners as well as future proofing the value of the investment. Issues such as energy efficiency are often an initial target, in part due to the ease with which improvement can be measured. More recently, […]
Read more Trends & Expectations for 2019 – Siemens Building Technologies
Input from Agustin Garcia del Castillo, Business Development Manager Real Estate and Sustainability Manager for Siemens Building Technologies. At Siemens Building Technologies, we’re raising the bar on sustainability. We are deeply committed to our environment, society at-large, and responsible business practices. We are taking action to reduce climate impacts across our entire value chain and […]
Read more Climate resilience and the search for ‘zero carbon’: Trends and expectations for sustainable real assets in 2019
The challenge of improving the sustainability of real estate portfolios is not new. However, the increasing pressure from investors, certification bodies and other industry drivers is creating a wave of change toward portfolios that can demonstrate increasingly resilient and efficient asset performance. Furthermore, a growing desire for occupants to have real time access to building […]
Read more 2019: the Breakthrough Year for Smart Buildings?
Smart buildings and smart cities have been at the forefront of sustainability discussions for much of the past decade, but they have always felt like a vision of the future. During this time we’ve increased the amount of technology in our buildings, and have now arrived at the time of The Internet of Things where […]
Read more What to expect from China’s real estate industry in 2019
ESG as a global vision has enhanced compliance and reporting standards Sustainability is not rocket science yet the rapid global sustainability demand has encouraged overwhelmingly stringent laws and regulations from governments and investment institutions in 2018. The bell rings again for companies to step up their ESG disclosures in 2019. According to the EY Global […]
Read more 2019: Trends in Sustainable Real Assets
2018 was an exciting year for sustainable real assets, as more assets were required to participate in benchmarking or disclosure. As a result, we shifted from talking about regulatory and compliance obligations and costs to sustainability as a value-add driver of cashflow and asset values. The federal government’s retreat only increased the focus on sustainable […]
Read more The Art of Sustainability Goal Setting
When discussing setting sustainability goals among our team, many clients simply want “the answer.” There are tools that allow you to provide key information and produce a numerical target. You could take that number and run with it. But you shouldn’t. Understand your motivation Setting sustainability goals can and should be more nuanced than that. […]
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