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Greenwashing is out: companies need to get serious about their sustainability journey

Greenwashing is out: companies need to get serious about their sustainability journey

Businesses are increasingly being held accountable for their environmental and social impact. And Siegwerk, a global provider of inks and coatings for packaging, has taken a leading role in driving sustainability within the sector. The company is committed to producing packaging solutions to drive a circular economy for the industry, and supporting sustainable transitions along its supply chain.

Like many companies, Siegwerk has taken an incremental approach to expanding its sustainability strategy. “We started our sustainability journey by looking at how our products could better enable a circular economy,” says Alina Marm, Global Head of Sustainability and Circular Economy at Siegwerk. “That laid the groundwork for us to launch an entire new strategy on sustainability with a broad scope, covering carbon neutrality targets and diversity as a quantifiable target, but also looking at the conditions in our supply chain and creating transparency around these conditions in order to continuously improve.”

For Marm, the three primary aspects that define sustainable packaging are true circularity, carbon neutrality and fairness in the supply chain: “Carbon neutrality meaning zero emissions, and fairness in the supply chain meaning that there’s nobody who suffers as a result of your business practices.”

There is an increased need for transparency around companies’ sustainability data. Consumers are more educated about greenwashing and will no longer just take companies at their word when it comes to sustainability claims. Special interest groups such as NGOs are also publicly highlighting discrepancies between company commitments and performance.

“There is a huge regulatory push to bring sustainability reporting on par with financial reporting. And this is a game-changer. It’s going to make it much easier for consumers to look up data and make decisions about which products to buy and which companies to support,” Marm says.

But this is one area that is severely lagging. A survey conducted by Deloitte in April 2022 revealed that only 3 per cent of consumer companies say they produce sustainability data that is as accurate and verifiable as their financial data. Siegwerk is one of the first companies in its sector to commit to reporting on the carbon footprint of its products. “There is no option but to embrace sustainability holistically,” says Marm. “It’s not just about doing the right thing, it’s also about remaining competitive and future-proofing your business.”

 

 


 

 

Source    Independent

Keeping digitalisation green: APAC governments hold key to unlocking renewables’ vast potential

Keeping digitalisation green: APAC governments hold key to unlocking renewables’ vast potential

As the world confronts the growing urgency of the climate crisis, hyperscale computing companies are stepping up their sustainability efforts. In recent years, cloud titans have emerged as the largest buyers of renewable energy, with the clean energy portfolios of Big Tech sometimes rivalling those of the world’s biggest utilities.

According to latest data from Bloomberg NEF, Amazon has been the largest corporate clean energy purchaser in the world for the second year straight. Globally, a total of 6.2 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy was purchased in 2021 through 44 offsite power purchase agreements (PPAs) in nine countries by the tech giant. The company now has 310 renewable energy projects around the globe, with capacity to generate over 15.7 gigawatts of energy, making it one of the world’s clean energy leaders.

However, despite the growing ambition and appetite of these companies, their 100-per-cent-renewable energy goals remain out of reach in some parts of Asia, primarily due to a lack of affordable clean power options.

Ken Haig, who leads Amazon Web Services (AWS)’s energy and environment policy engagement efforts, says governments in the region can encourage corporate renewable investments by setting up regulatory frameworks that incentivise the adoption of affordable and renewable energy. “Leading renewable energy purchasers and cloud service providers can drive the demand for clean energy and help the sector to grow, bringing with it associated capital, green jobs and the proliferation of green technologies and approaches across Asia Pacific,” he said.

Haig, who also chairs the Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA)’s Sustainability Working Group, was speaking at AWS’s annual Asia Pacific Sustainability Summit held on 29 June. Experts on the same panel also said that overcoming the lack of financing, accurate information and confidence will give the region the breakthrough it needs.

 

Enabling renewable energy projects in Asia Pacific

Earlier this month, Singapore announced it would be importing up to 100 megawatts (MW) of hydropower from Laos via Thailand and Malaysia in the first multilateral cross-border electricity trade involving four ASEAN countries. With increasing regional collaboration, foreign imports of renewable energy for renewables-scarce Singapore, will become increasingly possible. This will not only boost investor confidence in such projects, but also make the sustainable construction and operation of digital infrastructure more achievable.

Heng Jian Wei, director (policy) at the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) in the Prime Minister’s Office – Strategy Group (Singapore), said: “Such projects can help spur the growth of renewable energy resources, which can be used to power the grid in the host countries as well. They are powerful as they create a win-win outcome.”

He further explained that renewable energy projects can make better financial sense if sufficient offtakers are secured, and by reducing upfront costs and enabling downstream recovery.

Haig added that Amazon’s renewable energy strategy focuses on additionality. “We identify projects to invest in as offtakers enabling additional renewable energy to help green the grids where we operate. This is what we have done in APAC as well with three projects in Australia, two in China, and one each in Singapore and Japan,” he said.

AWS is currently on track to meet its pledge of using 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025, five years earlier than expected.

Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) senior energy specialist Stephen Peters cited the international help given to construct Cambodia’s 100MW National Solar Park Project, as a further example of how governments can make renewable energy projects more economically viable and less financially daunting.

In addition to ADB’s US$7.64 million loan, the project was also given a US$11 million concessional loan and a US$3 million grant from the Climate Investment Fund’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP). With funding from 14 donor countries, SREP aims to help resource-strapped nations fight the impacts of climate change and accelerate their shift to a low-carbon economy.

The project, the first of its kind in Cambodia, adopts reverse auctioning as a strategy for the government to procure renewable energy generation capacity. The competition drives down the power purchase tariff for solar. “The model was very successful because it allows risks to be shared between the public and private sectors based on who can best handle the risk. This avoids premiums due to misallocated risk and produces low energy prices,” said Peters.

 

Pursuing ‘green growth’ for Asia’s data centres

Data centre operators are now facing pressure to meet stricter sustainability goals. In Singapore, a moratorium on data centres, once imposed due to sustainability concerns such as the heavy electricity and water usage of the facilities, was lifted in January this year, but with regulations to ensure that their power usage effectiveness (PUE) is kept at 1.3 or below. Moreover, applications to operate new centres must include innovation and sustainability solutions, and applicants should ideally have a proven track record in building and operating data centres.

At the summit, strategic economic consultancy AlphaBeta launched a paper detailing how Singapore could achieve a “green growth” scenario, where there is ample, sustainable digital infrastructure, by providing assistance to data centres sourcing for renewable energy.

 

AlphaBeta detailed four possible scenarios for Singapore’s data centre industry. Image: AlphaBeta

 

In their report, AlphaBeta developed a best case, “green growth” scenario, where if the Singapore government assists in the construction of new data centres and helps source renewable energy, digital infrastructure can not only cope with the increasing demands, but provide energy efficient services which allow the nation to reach its climate goals.

Quint Simon, who heads public policy at AWS, emphasised that countries in the region should not need to choose between digitalisation and decarbonisation, as tackling them both provides nations with viable ways of reaching their climate goals.

“Contrary to some beliefs, the twin transitions of digitalisation and decarbonisation are not mutually exclusive, but in fact, mutually beneficial. Governments across APAC can turn these parallel challenges into mutual opportunities by harnessing the demand for digitalisation to meet pressing climate commitments,” said Simon.

She urged companies to consider switching from on-site data centres to cloud computing, which can reduce energy consumption by up to 80 per cent and make net-zero ambitions more achievable.

 

The value of business investments and sustainability is becoming increasingly clear. Studies find that companies moving or building sustainability strategies into their digital transformation plans are two and a half times more likely to outperform their peers. And that’s not idealism. That’s good business sense. –  Ken Haig, chair, ACCA Sustainability Working Group

 

Better data and disclosures

Experts at the AWS Sustainability Summit said that enhanced data disclosures are key to redirecting capital towards low-emissions investments.

Dr Amelia Sharman, New Zealand’s External Reporting Board’s director for climate standards, said that decision makers might still be using old frameworks. For example, some are preparing for scenarios where floods occur every once in 100 to 200 years, when in facts these extreme weather events are affecting nations every 10-20 years. She explained that these mechanisms are new and a lot of upskilling within the business, in the industry and with the investor community is necessary to support quality low-emission investments.

“We encourage entities to prioritise their investor and what is important to their investor’s decision making, when preparing climate-related disclosures,” said Sharman. “Quantitative data are an important element of the disclosures but entities are also encouraged to think qualitatively when exploring their climate-related risks and opportunities using strategic foresight tools such as scenario analysis.”

From 1 January 2023, climate-related disclosures aligned with the recommendations provided by the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) will be mandatory for all equity and debt issuers listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) and selected financial service organisations.

Despite the different developmental stages APAC countries are on in their decarbonisation journey, the panellists discussed the need for standardisation. Heng emphasised that it is important to try and put a price on an externality like carbon because we do pay a price for climate change impacts.

“A single carbon price for the Asia Pacific region or the world probably won’t happen anytime soon. However, an agreement on a single carbon price would be pragmatic, as it would enable greater near-term carbon emissions reductions by building confidence that all participating countries are undertaking comparable mitigation efforts.

Peters adds that “we should seek new and innovative ways to achieve a low carbon transition and regenerate our natural environment. One of the ways we can do this is by using natural capital to support blue and green bonds. Using digital solutions can accelerate this tremendously.”

 

Meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with technology

During the summit, the ACCA also released a concept note outlining how cloud computing and digital technologies can help countries reach their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the International Energy Agency, cloud-enabled technologies—such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing—will be critical to accelerating systemic sustainability transformation at scale.

For example, the Indonesian company Halodoc used behavioural insights from patient data stored on the cloud to connect millions of patients to 22,000 doctors and 1,000 partner pharmacies across the nation, thereby making healthcare simpler and more accessible. With wider adoption of such use cases, APAC countries can help promote their citizens’ good health and wellbeing, said the report.

Peter’s added, “Greater access to information and intelligence can support reaching the goals of the SDGs. The Asian Development Bank is exploring artificial intelligence tools to help governments analyse enormous amounts of data—for things like protected areas, wind speed, and solar radiance—to better determine, plan, and build their energy infrastructure.”

Another example is the use of cloud technology for agriculture in Asia. Farmers in Thailand and Pakistan reported a 50 per cent increase in yield and nearly 40 per cent corresponding increase in profitability after adopting cloud solutions for remote agricultural management.

Referencing this report, Haig said “The value of business investments and sustainability is becoming increasingly clear. Studies find that companies moving or building sustainability strategies into their digital transformation plans are two and a half times more likely to outperform their peers. And that’s not idealism. That’s good business sense.”

 


 

Source Eco Business

Investa’s race to net zero emissions

Investa’s race to net zero emissions

Contents

Introduction
What is a science-based net zero emissions target?
What does Investa’s science-based net zero emissions target look like?
How will Investa achieve net zero emissions?
How is Investa working with tenant customers?

 

Introduction

In the race to net zero emissions, Investa took an early lead as the first Australian property company to commit to a science-based target in 2015. Nina James, General Manager for Corporate Sustainability and Responsible Investment, shares Investa’s progress and explains why Investa customers should care.

When Australia signed on to the Paris Agreement, we agreed to play our part to limit global warming to well below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this, we must halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieve a climate neutral world – or net zero emissions – by 2050.

Around 20% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from our buildings. Businesses play a central role in driving down greenhouse gas emissions in their commercial offices, but a resilient, zero-emissions future must be underpinned by robust science.

“When Investa committed to a science-based target in 2016, we charted a course to net zero emissions by 2040. To do this, we have set a bona fide carbon reduction target that is verified against the climate change science and the Paris Agreement,” James explains.

 

What is a science-based net zero emissions target?

Any company can set a carbon reduction target. But how do we know that the target is ambitious enough to achieve net zero emissions?

Science-based targets help companies to understand how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

“Investa has always had a strong commitment to third-party verification,” James says. “We have certified our portfolio of assets under the NABERS and Green Star rating systems. We report to GRESB, the global benchmark for sustainable real estate, each year. And we have been a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment since 2007. When we set our carbon target the same expectation applied.”

Investa established its target through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a global organisation that sets the ‘gold standard’ for corporate emissions reduction. More than 1,200 companies have committed to cut their carbon footprints and 593, including Investa, have had their targets approved by SBTi.

SBTi’s 2020 progress report shows science-based targets work. The typical company with science-based targets has reduced its direct emissions (Scope 1 and 2) at a rate of 6.4% per year. This exceeds the 4.2% rate needed to limit warming to 1.5°C.

Investa has reduced emissions by a massive 63.3% since 2004.

 

Investa’s science-based target was pivotal for the property industry. By working through the complexity raised by science-based targets, Investa showed everyone that it could be done.

Davina Rooney, CEO, Green Building Council of Australia

 

What does Investa’s science-based net zero emissions target look like?

Davina Rooney, Chief Executive Officer of the Green Building Council of Australia, says Investa’s net zero goal was a “game-changer” for the nation’s buildings.

“Investa’s science-based target was pivotal for the property industry. By working through the complexity raised by science-based targets, Investa showed everyone that it could be done, and gave other property companies the confidence to pursue their own ambitious sustainability goals,” Rooney explains.

Australia’s property industry can achieve net zero emissions by 2050 using technologies that exist today, Rooney adds.

“The Low Carbon, High Performance report finds eliminating emissions from our buildings would also deliver $20 billion in financial savings by 2030, and improve the productivity and quality of life of Australian businesses and households.”

Investa has committed to reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 60% per square metre of net lettable area by 2030 and 100% by 2040 from a 2015 baseline. We have also committed to reduce Scope 3 greenhouse emissions by 26% per net lettable area by 2030 and 42% by 2040 from a 2015 baseline.

Importantly, this target includes Scope 3 emissions – the emissions that are generated by our tenant customers.

“Reducing our tenant customers’ emissions is embedded in our commitment, and that sets us apart,” James says.

“It says we are accountable for more than what’s in our own backyard. We might not control Scope 3 emissions, but we want to walk alongside our tenant customers, arm in arm, to help them reduce their footprint.”

James says Investa is “thrilled” to see nearly every large Australian property company set competitive targets since 2015. “They’ve used our target as a bookend – and that makes our team proud.”

 

Let’s break down Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions

Scope 1 emissions – or direct emissions – are from sources that a company owns or controls, like emissions produced during manufacturing, or from business travel in a company car,

Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the purchase of electricity, steam, heating and cooling for the company’s own use.

Scope 3 emissions cover emissions outside a company’s boundary – like the emissions from employees’ commute, purchased good and services, or leased assets, like office buildings.

 

How will Investa achieve net zero emissions?

‘Net zero emissions’ means achieving overall balance between the emissions produced and those extracted from the atmosphere. Buildings can still produce some emissions, provided they are offset by activities that reduce those emissions, like planting forests.

Electricity and gas consumed in Investa’s buildings account for 99.6% of our greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve net zero emissions, we are addressing three areas:

1. Operations. By working alongside tenant customers to uncover new ways to enhance the energy performance of buildings we are making workplaces more productive, healthy and comfortable.

2. Design and construction. Changing the building envelope – considering solar glare and heat, orientation and thermal mass, the design of windows and services, for example – can realise big energy and carbon emissions savings for our customers.

3. Power. Sourcing zero-carbon energy, such as from solar or wind farms, addresses our residual power requirements and helps our customers to meet their net zero targets too.

 

How is Investa working with tenant customers?

Investa’s partnership with customers is at the heart of its strategy to cut carbon emissions.

“We don’t think it’s enough for us to address our base buildings. We want to share our ideas and intellectual property with our customers to drive a shift across Australia,” James explains.

In partnership with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Investa has created a free Sustainability Tenant Toolkit to help companies around Australia create low carbon, healthy workplaces.

“We have gathered all the information and ideas from 15 years of operating sustainable commercial offices. We aim to empower our 750 tenant organisations to improve the performance of their own tenancies,” James explains.

The Toolkit attracted nearly 37,000 unique visits in 2020 alone. From analysing the data, Investa knows that people want to understand how buildings influence health, wellbeing and productivity, and how they can actively improve the environmental sustainability of their office space.

Davina Rooney says the Toolkit is a “genuinely impressive piece of work to guide tenants on creating sustainable workplaces”.

“By tackling environmental sustainability from lots of different angles – from design and construction to how people use their office space – Investa has set the industry benchmark.”

James says the feedback Investa receives from tenant customers is “really exciting”.

“Tenants are making great savings in electricity by implementing the tips in our Toolkit. They tell us the Toolkit helps their people understand what wellness in the office looks like, and how engaged employees translate to bottom line benefits,” James says.

“Through the Toolkit, we’ve had direct conversations with 100,000 of our customers. But what makes us really proud is the fact that anyone can access the Toolkit. Sharing our knowledge is how we’ll move Australia towards net zero emissions.

The challenge of climate action is large, but so is Investa’s net zero ambition. This is why a staged approach is important, James explains.

“First, set the target, then gather and analyse the data, then enrol our tenants. That’s what we are doing – walking arm-in-arm with our tenants as an advisor. We are working with our customers to cut their carbon emissions and, at the same time, create more efficient, sustainable workplaces. We’re showing that it can be done.”

 

“We don’t think it’s enough for us to address our base buildings. We want to share our ideas and intellectual property with our customers to drive a shift across Australia.”

Nina James, General Manager, Corporate Sustainability, Investa

 


 

Source Investa