City Developments Limited (CDL) has published its Integrated Sustainability Report (ISR) 2021 themed ‘Advancing Change Resilience’. It shares CDL’s progress towards its material Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals and targets, established under the CDL Future Value 2030 sustainability blueprint. Aligned with global climate goals and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the blueprint has remained effectively integrated into CDL’s business strategies and operations despite unprecedented challenges in 2020 posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, CDL achieved a 44% reduction in carbon emissions intensity from base-year 2007, meeting its interim 2020 target. It is also on track to achieve its Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)-validated target of a 59% reduction by 2030. From 2012 to 2020, CDL reported energy savings of over S$30 million from energy-efficient retrofitting and initiatives across all its commercial buildings.¹

CDL Group Chief Executive Officer Mr Sherman Kwek said, “With heightened expectations for healthy green buildings, CDL is in a prime position to leverage our established credentials in ESG integration to effect positive change and resilience. Since publishing Singapore’s first dedicated corporate sustainability report in 2008, we have been steadfast in setting robust goals, tracking and reporting our ESG performance promptly and comprehensively. Believing in the concept of ‘what gets measured, gets managed’, ESG disclosure remains fundamental to CDL’s sustainability strategy to decarbonise our operations towards a low-carbon future, advancing our greater purpose to drive value creation beyond just profit.”

As an early adopter, CDL’s ESG reporting harmonises various international reporting frameworks. These include the Global Reporting Initiative Standards as its core; International Integrated Reporting Council’s Integrated Reporting Framework; SDG Reporting; Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework; and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).

In response to the growing demand for climate-related financial disclosures from the investment community, CDL’s ISR 2021 stepped up on the comprehensiveness and presentation of TCFD and SASB disclosures. The report is also assured against the Climate Disclosure Standards Board  framework.

Steadfast Commitment to a Low-Carbon Future

In 2021, CDL was the first real estate developer in Singapore and the first major real estate conglomerate in Southeast Asia to sign the WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment. It aims to achieve net zero operational carbon by 2030 for its new and existing wholly-owned assets and developments under its direct operational and management control.

To accomplish this, CDL will progressively reduce its carbon emissions, including retrofitting its managed buildings to further enhance energy efficiency and accelerating the transition to renewable energy. Plans are underway to roll out Building and Construction Authority Green Mark Super Low Energy-certified buildings in Singapore by 2023.

In line with its decarbonisation goals, CDL is currently reviewing its SBTi-validated carbon emissions intensity reduction targets and will set more ambitious targets in line with a 1.5°C temperature rise scenario.

Harmonised Reporting Initiatives that Strengthened CDL’s Social, Financial, Organisational and Natural Capitals

To help its Singapore and overseas tenants tide over operating challenges and cash flow constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, CDL provided over S$40 million in property tax rebates and rental relief in 2020. This included passing on the full quantum of property tax rebates from the Singapore government to local tenants. CDL also offered more flexibility in rental payments to tenants facing severe cash flow issues.

CDL’s strong ESG track record has helped the company and its joint venture (JV) partners gain access to fast-growing sustainable finance. Since issuing its first green bond in 2017, CDL has secured more than S$1.3 billion of sustainable financing as at 31 December 2020. This includes a S$470 million green revolving credit facility for the refinancing of Republic Plaza – CDL’s flagship commercial property – and on-lending to other eligible green projects. In April 2021, its JV South Beach Consortium secured a five-year green loan totalling S$1.2 billion – one of Singapore’s largest green loans.  This brings CDL’s total sustainable financing to over S$2.5 billion to date.

CDL’s progressiveness in effective ESG integration is widely recognised by prominent global ratings, rankings and indexes. These include the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World by Corporate Knights, of which CDL was ranked the world’s top real estate company for two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021. Other distinguished accolades include maintaining double ‘A’s in the 2020 CDP Global A List for corporate climate action and water security.

To ensure accuracy and transparency, CDL’s ISR 2021 is independently assured by Ernst & Young in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised). Its greenhouse gas emissions disclosures are externally verified in line with ISO 14064.

Please click here to view CDL’s ISR 2021.

¹ Implementation of new energy-saving initiatives was postponed in 2020 due to COVID-19. However, CDL’s efforts from previous initiatives since 2012 continued to yield an estimated annual energy savings of around 16.1 million kWh, equivalent to more than S$3.8 million of cost savings.