A purpose-driven approach to business
We are committed to creating and preserving sustained value for all our stakeholders through our integrated strategy. We believe that by embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into every aspect of our business, we are able to actively contribute towards a more sustainable operating environment for all our stakeholders.
While we have long supported an integrated approach to value creation, the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised the importance of accelerating our journey to embed ESG considerations into our business strategy. Our commitment in this regard is supported by a comprehensive implementation plan that outlines priorities, risks, opportunities, targets and action plans. We aim to achieve this by investing in sustainable assets, greening of physical assets, understanding the social impact of our products and services, strengthening our governance frameworks and transparently engaging with our key stakeholders.
We have also become a formal signatory to the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, making us the first South African REIT to do so. This demonstrates our long-term commitment to sustainability principles. The UN Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. With more than 10 000 companies and 3 000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and more than 60 local networks, it is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Our purpose is to create and manage spaces in a way that changes lives. To achieve our purpose, we have incorporated a broader agenda into our strategic thinking. Our strategy seeks to tackle the issues addressed by the 17 UN SDGs – deemed of critical importance to sustainable growth.
This year, we conducted a materiality analysis across all 17 SDGs in order to identify the areas of business or society where we can make the most significant impact. We have internally identified primary and secondary SDGs based on their relevance to our business, to guide how we will prioritise our resources and commitments. Furthermore, we have identified the most significant priorities across each of the goals, throughout our value chain.
For more information, see our United Nations Global Compact: Annual progress report against the Ten Principles
For more information, please read our 2020 ESG report
Carbon footprint disclosure
We meticulously measure our impact on the natural environment and take definitive action in areas that require further improvement. We are thus able to become advocates for responsible environmental stewardship in areas where we excel. We use widely adopted measures to communicate our environmental performance to our stakeholders and to provide comparability and context. In this way, we ensure that we remain relevant in the context of global environmental protection efforts.
The primary measure of our environmental impact is our annual carbon footprint assessment, which follows the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG). Our GHG inventory was developed in terms of the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, and we apply the ISO 14064-3 international standard for GHG verification.
We use various metrics to measure our progress on material environmental impacts. We then align these metrics to international standards like. Year-on-year performance benchmarking informs whether or not we have satisfactorily mitigated identified risks.
We previously set a rolling year-on-year emissions intensity reduction target to reduce our scope 1 and 2 emissions per square metre by 5%. However, multiple property acquisitions and disposals do impact our total footprint annually. We therefore use an intensity target of metric tonnes CO2e per sqm (GLA) to consistently measure our performance year-on-year.
Our 2020 carbon footprint results were largely influenced by the national lockdown. As trading and business operations were restricted, the demand for electricity and water drastically reduced, in some cases more than others. Electricity remains the largest contributor to Redefine’s carbon footprint, accounting for 98% of all our emissions (scope 3 included).
Our independent verification statement for our 2020 carbon footprint is available here
If you would like more information, please contact us at [email protected]