ESG

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and Link Asset Management Limited (Link) released a survey study, “Hong Kong Green Capabilities in Real Estate Development and Property Management: RCEP Opportunities”, which highlights seven distinct advantages of Hong Kong in the field of green buildings.

The report also underscores green building challenges across the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries, with which Hong Kong can strengthen collaboration in four major areas to expand Hong Kong’s and regional green building capacities to create a greener and sustainable future: climate risk assessment and design consulting; green financing; construction and facility management digitalisation; and green material certification and sourcing.

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The world is in transition. We are seeing the shift towards a low carbon economy. The transition is a response to climate change, technological innovation as well as demographic shifts. The transition to a low carbon economy requires collaboration across all sectors, from investors, regulators and customers.

At BlackRock, we believe that climate risk is an investment risk. By investing in properties that take into consideration financially material physical and transition risks, alongside other information, investors may create a more resilient and valuable portfolio. It supports responsible business practices and leads to risk-adjusted financial benefits in the long term.

Sustainable investing in real estate can be a powerful way to align positive environmental and social outcomes with financial goals. As investors, part of the decision-making process is to incorporate financially material environmental, social and governance considerations, alongside other information to enhance risk-adjusted returns.

Decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors requires technological innovation. It requires the deployment of clean energy technologies and the decarbonization of heavy industries. Government policies and regulations also play a role in low carbon transition and help provide incentives to invest in clean technologies. It is a complex and challenging task.

Improving property design and operations is crucial to reducing carbon footprint as they become resource efficient and support healthier and livable communities. The use of renewable energy, energy-efficient design, better building materials and smart technologies are some of the ways that asset owners and managers can prioritize to add value to the property. Smart technologies can be used to monitor energy use, water consumption and other aspects of building operations. The use of renewable energy in real estate can be one of the best ways to reduce carbon footprint and reduce energy costs in the long run.

In addition to these strategies, asset owners can also focus on creating more sustainable communities. Building designs that connect to public transportation and cycling paths and incorporating amenities such as green spaces can promote a healthier lifestyle.

Overall, real estate has a significant role to play in sustainability, and by adopting sustainable practices and technologies, real estate owners can future-proof their assets by reducing their environmental impact, improving their communities, and creating a more sustainable future.

Wincel Kaufmann

Head of Sustainable Investing
APAC Alternatives
BlackRock

 

 

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Wincel Kaufmann

Head of Sustainable Investing
APAC Alternatives
BlackRock

 

 

CDL’s Integrated Sustainability Report 2023 is their sixteenth sustainability report since 2008. Themed “Zero in on Positive Impact”, the digital report communicates CDL’s progress towards their material ESG goals and targets, established under the CDL Future Value 2030 sustainability blueprint. External assurance is key to enhance data credibility and instill confidence in readers. CDL’s external assurance of their sustainability report started in 2009 and has continued to expand. ISR 2022 and ISR 2023’s external assurance has been further elevated in its scope against the GRI Standards, SASB Standards, as well as the TCFD and CDSB frameworks.

This report was originally published in https://cdlsustainability.com/

MSCI has tracked board gender diversity every year since 2009. The Women on Boards report highlights trends across markets and sectors for publicly listed companies. The annual review provides companies, researchers, and policymakers with an objective overview of the changing share of female representation at the board level as well as among CEO and CFO roles.

Key findings

• Overall, the percentage of director seats held by women continued to increase in 2022, reaching 24.5% among constituents of the MSCI ACWI Index, up from 22.6% in the previous year. The percentage of index constituents with at least 30% female directors increased in 2022 to 38% compared with 33% a year ago.

• After a noticeable slowdown in 2020, the rate of growth of women on boards rebounded in 2021 and continued to recover in 2022 in both developed markets (DM) and emerging markets (EM), with the exception of the U.S. While the overall percentage of director seats held by women among U.S.-domiciled constituents of the MSCI World Index continued to increase and passed 30% in 2022, the rate of increase has slowed for the last three years.

• In 2022, health care surpassed other sectors both in terms of the total percentage of director positions held by women (27.3%) and the percentage of companies with at least 30% director seats held by women (45.4%).

• The percentage of female CEOs increased to 5.8% (up from 5.3%) in 2022 among companies in the MSCI ACWI Index, while the percentage of CFO positions held by women increased to 16.9% (up from 15.8%) among the same peer set. The percentage of women CFOs was the highest among EM companies (19.9%).

This report was originally published in https://www.msci.com/research-and-insights/women-on-boards-progress-report-2022