CapitaLand and Ascott celebrate Earth Hour across 15 properties in Vietnam Activities to engage residents, shoppers and tenants to lead more sustainable lifestyles
Ho Chi Minh City, 29 March 2019. Over 260 CapitaLand properties will participate in Earth Hour on 30 March 2019 worldwide by switching off their façade and other non-essential lights at 8.30pm local time. In Vietnam, CapitaLand and its wholly owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott) will celebrate Earth Hour across 15 properties. Participating properties in Vietnam include landmarks such as Somerset Grand Hanoi, Somerset West Point Hanoi, Somerset Chancellor Court HCMC, Somerset Ho Chi Minh. Globally, architectural icons such as Ascott Raffles Place Singapore, CapitaGreen, Raffles City Singapore, and ION Orchard in Singapore; as well as La Clef Louvre Paris and La Clef Tour Eiffel Paris in France will also be part of the global movement. Future icons that are currently under development such as CapitaSpring and Funan in Singapore, and the record-breaking Raffles City Chongqing in China, will also set an early example and take part in the initiative.
Mr Tan Seng Chai, Group Chief People Officer of CapitaLand Group and Chairman of the CapitaLand Sustainability Steering Committee, said: “To mark Earth Hour this year, CapitaLand is embarking on a global sustainability outreach with over 280 online and offline activities across more than 30 countries. We want to encourage our customers around the world to join CapitaLand in taking climate action, by reducing waste and leading more sustainable lifestyles. Sustainability is a key focus for CapitaLand. As a leading global real estate company, we strive to create real estate products that are not just best in the world, but also best for the world. In addition to our ongoing efforts to integrate sustainability into our business across geographies and assets, and to engage our residents, shoppers and tenants to do more for the environment; CapitaLand is also partnering government and non-profit agencies in our global outreach. Through these activities, we hope our customers and stakeholders will continue making sustainable choices in the future.”
Notably, CapitaLand is marking Earth Hour 2019 with a new e-waste or electronic waste collection record. Leveraging its vast network of office buildings and shopping malls in Singapore, CapitaLand has been actively encouraging its tenants and shoppers to take part in the Group’s e-waste collection initiative. In 2018, CapitaLand collected over 30,000 kg[1] of e-waste across 16 participating properties, a 33% increase year-on-year. Based on publicly available data, this sets a record of 53,000 kg of e-waste (approximately the weight of over 321,200 smartphones[2]) collected in Singapore by a real estate company over two years.
In Vietnam, more than 1000 staff and residents from properties will also contribute to the Earth Hour movement in their own ways by going beyond the hour. From upcycling and recycling workshops, green market bazaar, tree planting, mass fitness events, and environment cleanup. On the 15 March 2019, over 230 kg of trash were collected by 41 volunteers at public areas around PARCSpring, Krista and Kris Vue. Similar environment cleanup activities in cities such as Hanoi, Danang and Nha Trang have also been organised. At Ascott’s serviced residences in Vietnam, a ‘Go-Green’ campaign is in place.
Residents are encouraged say ‘no’ to single-use plastic and minimise housekeeping service to reduce their carbon footprint. Residents will be rewarded with one green point for each ‘green’ act and the green points accumulated can be used to redeem a wide variety of eco-friendly products and services.
On the eve of Earth Hour 2019, CapitaLand Vietnam and Ascott will also organise a special "Zumba Under the Stars" event - an evening of fun and energy at The Oxygen on 29 March 2019. Over 200 residents, mall and office tenants as well as staff are expected to join the mass dance exercise in celebration of Earth Hour 2019. During this event, other activities will be planned such as teaching people how to recycle and sort their waste and exchange recycled product for solar lamps.
Mr Chen Lian Pang, Chief Executive Officer of CapitaLand Vietnam shared: “Every year, CapitaLand Vietnam and Ascott, join hands to support Earth Hour in Vietnam to amplify our reach and encourage our customers to adopt greener habits. We have organised a series of green activities in the weeks leading up to Earth Hour. From environment cleanups, tree-planting to mass fitness activities, we hope to engage the community and demonstrate how simple steps can make a difference in addressing climate change and leading a more sustainable life.”
Ms Lew Yen Ping, Country General Manager for Ascott in Vietnam, said: “Beyond running a sustainable business, our support for community movements such as WWF Earth Hour is part of our efforts to engage stakeholders in protecting the environment and ongoing commitment to sustainability. This is the twelfth year CapitaLand and Ascott is supporting Earth Hour, to create a better future for our shared home - planet Earth - for ourselves and generations to come”.
In addition to these activities, CapitaLand Vietnam also integrates sustainability into its business. Somerset Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam achieved the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA) Green Mark GoldPLUS award, making it the highest BCA-rated property in Vietnam and in CapitaLand’s portfolio in Vietnam. The serviced residence is fitted with water efficient fixtures as well as efficient air-conditioning systems and LED lightings to reduce the building’s carbon footprint. The serviced residence Somerset Ho Chi Minh City also encourages its residents to live sustainably with friendly reminders within the apartments to switch off lights, save water, and reduce the use of single-use plastic can be found. Somerset Ho Chi Minh City has also set up a green corner to promote recycling,. The serviced residence also organises events such as tree-planting and environment-themed movie screenings to further inculcate green habits amongst the residents.
As a global real estate company present across more than 180 cities in over 30 countries, CapitaLand’s collective efforts in sustainability across its global operations has garnered international and regional recognition.CapitaLand was recently ranked as one of the most sustainable corporations in the world. CapitaLand was ranked 33rd in the ‘Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World’ index by Corporate Knights Inc for the seventh year and is amongst the top 1.3% corporations in the world on sustainability performance. CapitaLand is also the top and only real estate company in Asia to receive the Bronze award in RobecoSAM’s The Sustainability Yearbook 2019 index. It is CapitaLand’s 10th year to be listed in the rigourous index.
CapitaLand also achieved a 29.4% reduction in carbon emissions intensity from 2008 to 2017, exceeding its 2020 target of 23%. It has achieved 23.4% and 24.1% energy and water reduction (per m2 from base year 2008) respectively, exceeding its 2020 target of 20%. This resulted in S$140 million in utilities cost avoidance since 2009. CapitaLand aims to reduce its carbon emissions and water intensity by 30% by 2030 as well as energy intensity by 25% by 2030. For more on CapitaLand’s sustainability efforts, please refer to the CapitaLand Global Sustainability Report 2017. The CapitaLand Global Sustainability Report 2018 will be published in May 2019.
[1] In 2018, over 12,000 kg of e-waste were collected from CapitaLand offices and close to 18,500 kg of e-waste were collected from CapitaLand malls
[2] An average smartphone weighs about 165 grams