CapitaLand Investment recognised as one of the world’s most sustainable corporations on the 2023 Global 100 index
Leaps 19 spots in ranking in CapitaLand's 11th inclusion on the index
Singapore, 18 January 2023 – CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) has been recognised on Corporate Knights Inc’s1 ‘2023 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World’ index, marking CapitaLand’s inclusion on the index for 11 years running. CLI jumped 19 spots from last year to 56th place this year in the index, which lists the top 1% of corporations in the world based on their sustainability performance. CLI’s global sustainability efforts including its investment in greening its properties, achieving leading green building certifications such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and driving innovation through its CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge (CSXC) and CapitaLand Innovation Fund, contributed to the improvement in its ranking.
Mr Vinamra Srivastava, CLI’s Chief Sustainability Officer, said: “CLI’s consistent inclusion in prestigious indices2 such as the Global 100, Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and GRESB is testament to our global sustainability leadership in real estate. At CLI, we embed sustainability into every stage of our real estate lifecycle. Through key levers such as intensifying the use of renewable energy at our properties, accelerating the adoption of climate technologies and strengthening our sustainable financing efforts, we strive to achieve our ambitious 2030 Sustainability Master Plan targets and Net Zero by 2050. Sustainability is at the core of everything we do, and we will continue to make a positive impact on the communities we operate in.”
Mr Toby Heaps, Corporate Knights’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “CLI has continued to demonstrate its strong sustainability performance with a leap in its ranking on the 2023 Global 100 index. Companies listed on the Global 100 index represent the top echelons in the world on sustainability performance and the index has brought about new standards of transparency into play, which bolsters investors’ confidence. Kudos to CLI for consistently leading the way in shaping a climate-resilient built environment, and congratulations to them on this achievement.”
A total of 6,720 global corporations with a gross revenue of more than US$1 billion a year were assessed for the 2023 Global 100 listing3. The top 100 corporations on the index were determined following an analysis of 25 quantitative key performance indicators covering areas such as sustainable revenue, sustainable investment, resource management, employee management, financial management and supplier performance.
Lowering carbon footprint through renewable energy
As part of CLI’s efforts to achieve its carbon emissions reduction target which has been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, CLI has been intensifying the use of renewable energy at its properties. In 2021, about 4.3% (47,800 MWh) of CLI’s total electricity use was from renewable energy sources, which helped to mitigate about 28,960 tonnes of carbon emissions, equivalent to electricity use for over 11,000 average households annually4. This was attributed to 21 properties in Singapore, Australia, Belgium, China, India, United Kingdom and seven business parks in India that were fully or partially powered by renewable energy via on-site renewable energy systems or the purchase of full green power or partial green power. CLI aims to increase its renewable energy consumption to 35% by 2030.
Leveraging innovation in creating a future-ready built environment
To accelerate the achievement of CapitaLand’s 2030 Sustainability Master Plan targets and innovation in the built environment, CapitaLand launched initiatives such as CSXC, the first global sustainability-focused innovation challenge in the built environment by a Singapore real estate company to source for green building innovations. Chosen innovations are piloted at selected CapitaLand properties globally. Through CSXC, CapitaLand seeks innovations that address key challenges in areas such as low carbon transition, water conservation and resilience, waste management and circular economy as well as healthy and safe buildings.
CapitaLand will run CSXC for the third time this year. In 2022, CSXC saw over 340 entries from 50 countries, with S$650,000 committed to fund the pilots of 10 chosen innovations. CapitaLand is actively piloting or preparing to pilot 20 projects at 25 CapitaLand properties in Singapore, Australia, China, India, Thailand, and the USA. One project is a patented ceramic net which acts as an infrared emitting filter to reduce the energy consumption of air handling units. The pilot has been successfully completed in Singapore, with results of up to 51% reduction in energy consumption and up to 16% reduction in cooling load. The project will be implemented in another CapitaLand property soon.
A S$50 million CapitaLand Innovation Fund was also set up in 2021 to support the test-bedding of green and proptech innovations over a five-year period. In 2020, CapitaLand launched the Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab to facilitate more industry collaborations, engaging over 700 companies to catalyse solutions for smart, sustainable cities.
CLI’s track record in sustainable finance
To date, CLI and its listed REITs and business trusts have partnered with 17 financial institutions to secure a total of S$11.6 billion in sustainable finance comprising sustainability-linked loans and bonds, green loans, green bonds and perpetual securities. CLI will channel interest rate savings obtained from its sustainability-linked loans to fund decarbonisation initiatives and innovations, advancing the transition to a greener future.
Find out more about CapitaLand’s sustainability initiatives at https://www.capitaland.com/en/about-capitaland/sustainability.html
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1 Corporate Knights Inc. includes the sustainable business magazine Corporate Knights and a research division that produces rankings and financial product ratings based on corporate sustainability performance.
2 Please refer to Annex for the list of accolades CapitaLand has received for its sustainability leadership.
3 For the full Global 100 rankings and methodology details, visit: www.corporateknights.com/global100.
4 Average annual consumption of a four-room HDB household is based on Singapore’s Energy Market Authority’s 2021 Singapore Energy Statistics.