President & Group CEO Message - 10th CapitaLand Global Sustainability Report
CapitaLand Group targets to achieve 100% green certification of the enlarged global portfolio with Ascendas-Singbridge by 2030. It also aims to have at least 20% energy consumption from renewable energy for the enlarged group by 2025.
Dear Stakeholders,
At CapitaLand, we recognise that the long-term success of our business is closely intertwined with the health and prosperity of the communities we operate in. We firmly believe in doing good and doing right, as we do well, and will continue to place sustainability as an integral part of CapitaLand’s global business.
As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact’s (UNGC1) commitment, we adopt UNGC’s universal principles on human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption, to create a positive impact aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG).
A decade ago, CapitaLand was one of the first companies in Singapore to voluntarily publish its Global Sustainability Report. This dedication to transparency and rigour continues to guide us in our sustainability journey today. CapitaLand is a supporter of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and recently the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).
Over the 10 years, CapitaLand has transformed into one of the leaders in sustainability within the real estate industry in the world. Our sustainability efforts have been consistently recognised globally. CapitaLand was ranked 33rd in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World 2019. We remain the only Singapore real estate company to receive the “Bronze Class” distinction in The Sustainability Yearbook 2019 by RobecoSAM, an investment specialist focused on sustainability investing.
We are encouraged by the recognition worldwide and inspired to do better. We remain a purpose-driven company to enrich people and communities as we seek to transform city living globally.
Championing Green Buildings
As part of our strategy to reduce CapitaLand’s environmental footprint, we focus on improving our operational efficiency and reducing our energy, water and carbon emission intensity. In 2018, we achieved utilities cost avoidance in excess of S$170 million for the Group since 2009 by reducing our energy intensity (per m2) and water intensity (per m2) by 17.6% and 20.9% respectively for our operational properties. We have also reduced our carbon emission intensity by 29.8% since 2008, exceeding our 2020 target of 23%.
CapitaLand has endeavoured to obtain green certifications for our global portfolio of owned and managed properties by 2030, and at the end of 2018, we achieved green certifications for 70% (by m2) of our properties.
To accelerate the greening of our portfolio, we collaborated with International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to pioneer the first green certification for the serviced residence industry under its EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) framework. Ascott Makati in Manila is the first serviced residence in the world to be certified under this new category.
Integrating Sustainability With Corporate Financing
Beyond greening our properties, we integrated sustainability into our corporate financing activities. Last year, CapitaLand inked Asia’s first and largest real estate sustainability-linked loan with DBS and was the first to collaborate with RobecoSAM, an investment specialist focused on sustainability investing. Pegging interest rates to our sustainability efforts, the loan is a testament of our strong, holistic and long-term commitment to sustainability.
Extending Our Social Investment Impact
In 2018, CapitaLand invested more than S$2.2 million through our philanthropic arm, CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF) to support more than 18,000 children beneficiaries and over 42,000 vulnerable elderly. CHF expanded its mandate last year to support the vulnerable elderly in Singapore and improve their quality of life. Notably, CHF established a S$2 million CapitaLand Silver Empowerment Fund in partnership with Community Chest Singapore. Programmes such as the CapitaLand-NUHKids Nutrition Fund continued to support underprivileged children undergoing medical treatment, while the CapitaLand-Yellow Ribbon Fund Children supported the development of cognitive and socio-emotional skills for children of offenders aged between 3 and 12 years old.
Driving Sustainability As One Of Asia’s Largest Real Estate Companies
In FY 2018, CapitaLand achieved a 12% increase in PATMI at S$1.8 billion, the highest net profit recorded since 2008. Our return on equity grew to 9.3% from 8.6% in FY 2017. In the coming year, CapitaLand will acquire all the issued shares of each of Ascendas Pte Ltd and Singbridge Pte. Ltd2 upon legal completion by end June 2019, creating one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups with over S$123 billion of assets under management. As we strive towards delivering sustainable returns to our shareholders, we are elevating our sustainability efforts across our enlarged group:
- Extend our zero-tolerance policy on corruption and bribery for our expanded organisation to maintain a high standard of integrity when conducting our business.
- Recalibrate upwards our Group’s energy, water consumption and carbon emission targets, and aim to have our carbon emission targets approved by the Science-Based Targets Initiative3. This includes a target of at least 20% energy consumption from renewable energy for the enlarged Group by 2025, and 100% green certifications for our properties in our enlarged global portfolio by 2030.
- Further tackle the issue of resource consumption within our operations, focusing on single-use plastics and paper consumption, and expect to see significant reductions from 2020.
- Seek more sustainability-linked and green financial instruments to further twin our sustainability and fundraising efforts.
We thank our employees for their dedication as well as our customers, shareholders, and partners for their continued support. Together, we can create a greater impact on improving the economic, environmental and social well-being of the communities we operate in.
LEE CHEE KOON
President & Group Chief Executive Officer
CapitaLand Group
[1] UNGC is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world with more than 9,500 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 70 Local Networks. https://www.unglobalcompact.org/about.
[2] Ascendas Pte Ltd (APL) and Singbridge Pte. Ltd. (SB), are the holding companies of the business of Ascendas-Singbridge. APL holds business space and industrial development platforms and fund management platforms; and SB holds the joint ventures for large scale urban development projects.
[3] This is to align with the 2015 Paris Agreement commitment to limit global warming up to 1.5°C.