BBP Climate Commitment

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlighted that we are facing a global climate crisis and must limit global warming to 1.5 degrees to reduce the risks associated with long lasting or irreversible changes to the earths’ atmosphere and ecosystems. To achieve this, global net human caused emissions of carbon dioxide would need to reach net zero before 2050.  

It is therefore clear that buildings will have to be net zero carbon by 2050 and to achieve this, buildings will need to contribute to the 45% global reduction in CO2 required by 2030. 

The property industry needs to demonstrate that it is on a pathway to achieve this critical target and we must take urgent action to ensure our portfolios are resilient and deliver long-term value for our investors.  

This is why we have come together to make a collective commitment and send a clear message to all of our stakeholders - we recognise that our leadership can provide an important catalyst for change within the sector. 

We, the undersigned, make the following commitments: 

• We will each publish our own net zero carbon pathway on signing the Commitment. This will set out how we will quantify and track our emissions over time and outline our trajectory towards net zero carbon new and existing buildings including any interim targets we will use. In doing so we will follow the BBP’s Net Zero Carbon Pathway Framework and address: 
  • Operational carbon, critically covering whole building performance including our tenant’s activities. 
  • Embodied carbon of development, refurbishment and fit-out works.  
  • In developing our net zero carbon pathways we will follow the principles of the energy hierarchy to ensure effort is focused first on reducing energy demand and improving energy efficiency. To this end, we will support the development of property specific Energy Use Intensity (EUI) targets. 
• We will each annually disclose our progress towards our net zero carbon pathway and in doing so, explain the scope and implementation of this commitment as it relates to our individual business. 
• We will publicly disclose the energy performance of our portfolios, where we have permission to do so, as a minimum at a portfolio level by geography, and ideally at a property level, and support efforts to develop consistent industry performance disclosure and benchmarks. 
• By 2022, we will develop comprehensive climate change resilience strategies for our portfolios and work together to develop consistent industry disclosure on climate change risks in line with industry standards, including the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosure. 

To support the implementation of this commitment, we will work with the BBP to: 

• Develop guidance on net zero carbon pathways for property owners to encourage greater consistency in definitions and boundaries. 
• Develop clear guidance for the industry on the procurement of renewable energy for real estate assets to ensure that any purchasing in the UK creates additional capacity. 
• Convene an ‘owner & occupier’ forum inviting our tenants to challenge property owners and engage with us to improve the performance of the space they occupy in line with our net zero carbon pathways. 

Members of the BBP have diverse portfolios with different ownership and leasing structures, management arrangements and occupiers - how we implement these commitments within our businesses will differ. However, it is important to emphasise that we will adopt a ‘comply or explain’ approach to this commitment, with the intention that it will cover as many buildings as possible within our portfolios - the scale of the challenge ahead makes this absolutely imperative. 

We see the real estate market’s transition to a low carbon economy as an opportunity to drive innovation, respond to future demands and expectations of our occupiers and investors, and open up new markets for investment in real estate. 

To meet these commitments will require unprecedented collaboration across the industry. We therefore also call upon: 

• All our stakeholders (e.g. investors, occupiers, architects, engineers, contractors, managing agents, facilities managers) to disclose their own pathways to net zero carbon buildings and actively engage with us to help us deliver on these commitments. 
• Professional bodies and built environment institutions to develop industry standards and support these with education and training to upskill the industry to deliver net zero carbon buildings. 
• Government to deliver a supportive legislative agenda with a clear long-term trajectory to achieve net zero carbon buildings. 
• All property owners to adopt the same commitments. 

We will work with the BBP to monitor and report on our progress and to spearhead collaborative, collective action that delivers better buildings and creates long-term value for all of our stakeholders, including future generations.