ESG

Brookfield Properties and its partners have awarded more than $1.2 million of work to First Nations enterprises since the launch of its inaugural Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) 12 months ago.

Global real estate operator Brookfield Properties has been awarded a coveted CitySwitch Award in recognition of its ground-breaking Breaking the Plastic Habit program in Australia.

The Albanese Government has allocated billions in the budget to new measures that will supercharge the net zero transition and build a resilient, sustainable nation.

Dexus today welcomed Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary and Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy Dan Jorgensen to Quay Quarter Tower (QQT), Sydney as the project is awarded the 6 Star Green Star As Built rating by the Green Building Council of Australia.

A new joint report by the Property Council of Australia and the Green Building Council of Australia sets out a suite of property-focused policy recommendations that would help Australia achieve its decarbonisation goals.

Industry leaders across the building and construction sector are coming together to restate the role of nature and biodiversity in the built environment.

Despite the number of large companies making climate commitments reaching critical mass, and governments legislating to cut emissions, the real estate sector is still confused about net zero carbon targets and how to achieve them. JLL’s recent podcast, ‘Why real estate is confused about sustainability’ discusses why measures to limit real estate’s environmental impact are gathering pace, but some managers are struggling to keep up. JLL’s Tenant Representation – NSW, Senior Director, Anthony Clark said, “There is a fundamental lack of understanding as to basic concepts and principles. A lot of people don’t understand the difference between carbon neutral and net zero carbon.” “Becoming carbon neutral is about measuring your emissions and then finding ways to offset them. But net zero means truly reducing carbon emissions. It’s about changing your business behaviours and practices, reducing your emissions across the entirety of the value chain, and only using offsets as an absolute last resort,” said Clark. Businesses are still coming to terms with the impact on their carbon footprint of staff working remotely and may not fully realise the extent to which workers at home are still contributing to their overall emissions. Mr Clark said, “A business in the post-pandemic world might think that if they skinny their footprint down to 8,000 square metres from 10,000 they're making net savings. “Many businesses don’t realise that if you have employees working from home, those emissions form part of the business’s scope three emissions. It starts to add up very quickly,” said Mr Clark. Measuring carbon emissions and input is a consistent challenge for the real estate industry. JLL’s Head of Sustainability – ANZ, Connor McCauley said, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Shared, accurate data between landlord and tenant is the key to net zero solutions, but currently lacking.” Another challenge is the perceived cost of carbon solutions, including technology. However, running a simple audit as a first step can be revealing. Mr McCauley said, “While energy prices and waste collection costs have gone up, the cost of an audit hasn't. It’s a small investment that helps you see where savings can be made. “Not carrying out an audit can be costly. Waste contractors were still emptying commercial bins based on contracts drawn up pre-pandemic when offices were busier. People are working from home and there hasn’t been as much waste, yet the same number of bins are still being collected and businesses are paying the same price - sometimes for an empty bin,” said Mr McCauley.

Frasers has secured a five-year A$340 million and US$75 million syndicated sustainability- linked loan (“SLL”) with a price reduction structure which adopts sustainability performance targets linked to the Group’s goal to be a net-zero carbon corporation by 2050

The Centuria Agriculture Fund (CAF) recently purchased one of South Australia’s largest glasshouse assets, which encompasses a 20 hectare glasshouse facility that produces truss-loose, truss-prepack and baby plum tomatoes and accounts for approximately 14% of Australia’s truss tomato market.

Qualitas Limited, one of Australia’s leading alternative real estate investment managers, has announced the appointment of Fiona Reynolds as Chair of the Qualitas ESG Advisory Group.

GPT's Chirnside Park Shopping Centre, owned by the GPT Wholesale Shopping Centre Fund, has been certified carbon neutral, becoming the first retail asset in Victoria to meet the requirements and achieve the Climate Active certification.

Leading smart building technology company, IBMS Pty Ltd, announced today that it has completed a major rebranding and will henceforth be known as Avani.

Aviva Investors have today launched the fifth edition of their award-winning annual ‘Real Assets Study’ and have taken a deep dive into investor attitudes towards sustainable real assets.

EG has committed to ‘Real Zero’ carbon by 2030, taking a sophisticated, data-driven, approach to climate action.

The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has today released the Green Star: a year in focus report for 2021-22 detailing industry’s shared efforts to decarbonise the built environment.