Climate risks are business and investment risks. This is reaffirmed by the annual World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report 2021. With less than 10 years left to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the global race to net zero has never been more critical.
As a significant contributor to global carbon emissions, the real estate sector plays a pivotal role in driving climate action. At CDL, we have long believed that the health of the planet, people and economy is interconnected and interdependent. Guided by our corporate ethos of “Conserving as we Construct” since 1995, CDL has paved the way for the transformation of the built industry towards a low-carbon future, boding well for building users who, on average, spend 90% of their time indoors.
From integrating sustainability into our business two decades ago, CDL has continuously pushed the envelope with climate-focussed strategies. In 2018, CDL was the first Singapore real estate company to have our carbon reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). In February 2021, we became the first real estate developer in Singapore and the first real estate conglomerate in Southeast Asia to sign on to the WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment.
As COVID-19 has illustrated, companies with long-term ESG-centric business strategies, as well as robust and transparent sustainability reporting, are in a prime position to weather disruptive storms. What gets measured gets managed—our experience in ESG disclosure and sustainability for almost two decades has helped us identify gaps and improve our ESG performance, allowing us to attract fast-growing ESG funds and resulting in CDL’s inclusion in 13 prominent global ratings, rankings and indexes.
Prioritising ESG, decarbonisation, digitalisation and innovation requires fundamental changes to a business’ DNA and practices. Riding on our humble sustainability journey for over two decades, CDL will continue to embrace change, pre-empt obstacles and accelerate solutions to future-proof our business and create value for our stakeholders. Advancing change resilience will remain as the cornerstone for our sustainability strategy and action in this decade of action.
