Guiding Property Investors Towards Success in 2019

Real estate professional services and investment management firm JLL is glad to announce that it has exceeded its goals for carbon emission reductions within its corporate offices- and is well on its way towards achieving a Science Based Target by 2020.

Based on the Global Sustainability Report released recently, JLL scored impressive numbers as it stepped up sustainability efforts within its own offices and its work with clients.

Reductions achieved by JLL on a per corporate office employee basis included a drop in building-related greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent (vs. a target of 10 percent), building-related energy consumption by 12 percent (vs. a target of 10 percent), and rented area by 10 percent (vs. a target of 8 percent).

These gains are considered substantial as the United Nations estimates that real estate accounts for about 40 percent of the world's energy consumption and a third of all carbon emissions.

"As one of the world's largest commercial real estate firms, we have a tremendous opportunity to address climate change head-on by creating sustainable workspaces, buildings and communities where everyone can thrive," said Christian Ulbrich, Chief Executive Officer, JLL. "We're taking tangible action to deliver a more sustainable future for all of our stakeholders.

After nine years of reporting its sustainability performance, JLL is now pushing to improve its environmental impact through their new program Building a Better Tomorrow. Their goals include Transforming workplaces with science-based targets. This includes reducing building-related GHG emissions and building-related energy consumption per corporate office until 2019.  It also includes training old and new employees on sustainability and increasing the time they spend for volunteer work. 

JLL's significant cutback in carbon emissions complements its current push for more green building projects from real estate developers.

JLL Philippines' Country Head Christophe Vicic says the ultimate vision is for industries not to have to think twice about going green- and concentrate, instead, on how green their buildings will be. He says: "All over the world, the commitment to sustainability is already at the forefront of most industries. Real estate is not an exception". Vicic is a member of the Philippine Green Building Council Board of Trustees and actively pushes for green building certifications such as  LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and BERDE (Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence), which is the Philippines' national voluntary green building rating system.

Additionally, to help achieve its sustainability goals, JLL continues to strengthen partnerships with various external organizations, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the UN Global Compact, the Ethisphere Institute, the World Economic Forum's Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI), and local and global Green Building Councils. 

"We have set ambitious new sustainability targets that will dramatically reduce our impact on the earth's resources and create value over the long term for our clients, people and the wider community," said Richard Batten, Global Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer, JLL. "These targets are backed up with clear accountability and governance to ensure we achieve them, which will drive change by minimizing the impact of our own and our clients' operations."

To view the 2017 JLL Global Sustainability Report, visit http://www.jll.com/sustainability/sustainability-report.