Global NGO alliances, training at sustainability academy: How developer accelerates firms’ net-zero transition

A leader in sustainability, real estate company City Developments Limited (CDL) earned new accolades at the Sustainability Impact Awards (SI Awards) last month.

Jointly presented by The Business Times and UOB, with the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at the National University of Singapore Business School as the knowledge partner, the SI Awards aim to recognise individuals and companies in Singapore that demonstrate leadership in sustainability, contributing to environmental and societal well-being through their work.

At the ceremony, CDL took home the Impact Enterprise of the Year award, while its chief sustainability officer Esther An received the Impact Leader of the Year award.

CDL’s pioneering leadership in sustainability

Clinching the top awards is testament to the work CDL puts in over the years to ensuring its business and sustainability strategies are fully integrated, future-proofing itself for climate and environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks.

Since 1995, CDL has integrated sustainability into its business, focusing on creating long-term value for its stakeholders in line with its ethos “Conserving as We Construct”.

As part of its pioneering commitment to sustainability, the company was the first real estate developer in Singapore to produce a sustainability report in 2008. Since then, it has issued 17 sustainability reports, the most from any local real estate developer.

To address the complexities of the fast-changing reporting landscape, CDL established a two-pillar value creation model that incorporates a vast number of standards and frameworks.

The Impact pillar is anchored on the principles laid down by the Global Reporting Index in 2008 and follows guidelines like the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles, amongst others.

To ensure transparency in reporting, the second pillar, Value, is aligned with the latest framework laid down by the International Sustainability Standards Board, and also the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

In March this year, CDL also became the first Singapore corporation to publish a Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) report in its annual Integrated Sustainability Report, which has helped the company to take into account nature-related risks when making business decisions.

With its consistency and commitment to transparent and credible disclosures, it should come as no surprise that CDL performs strongly on no less than 14 global ESG indexes. One of these is the 2024 Global 100 list of most sustainable companies in the world, which CDL ranked 22nd on. For the sixth consecutive year, it has maintained its position as the world’s most sustainable real estate company and Singapore’s most sustainable company.

The company also attained double A grades in the 2023 CDP Global A List for corporate climate action and water security, was top rated in the Regional and Industry category for Sustainalytics’ 2024 ESG Risk Rating Report and was bestowed an AAA rating by MSCI 2023 ESG Research, the last of which CDL has maintained since 2010.

This has also provided the company with greater access to sustainable financing. To date, CDL has successfully secured over $9 billion of sustainable financing in the form of green bonds, green loans and sustainability-linked loans.

Of this, over half has been deployed to finance existing investments and assets in decarbonisation, including two first-of-its-kind sustainability-linked loans secured in 2023 and 2024 – the OCBC 1.5°C loan and the DBS TNFD targets-aligned loan, the latter worth $400 million.

The primary driver behind this movement is CDL’s sustainability champion, An. She is the UN Global Compact 2018 SDG Pioneer for Green Infrastructure and Low Carbon Economy, a 2023 Time100 Climate Leader, one of Reuters’ Women Trailblazers and now, Impact Leader of the Year. She explains, “When I look at these experiences and see how everyone brings ‘a piece of the puzzle’ to build and shape a sustainable and low-carbon world, I feel hope. It has led me to believe that no one is too small to make a change, and I will continue to do my best to contribute to a sustainable future.”

Accelerating action and impact for a net-zero future

Ultimately, sustainability is a team game and corporations have to work together to share knowledge and take a more deliberate step towards a low-carbon economy.

To share the experience it has accrued over almost three decades, CDL launched the Singapore Sustainability Academy (SSA) in 2017: Singapore’s first major People, Public and Private (3P) ground-up initiative aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as Singapore’s national goals to tackle climate change.

Occupying a combined 6,990 sq ft of City Square Mall’s roof terrace, the SSA is the result of six different government agencies and 15 founding industry and non-governmental organisation partners collaborating to work together.

Not only is it the first zero-energy facility in Singapore geared towards promoting climate awareness and sustainability, it is also the first collaboration between a local private sector property developer and non-profit organisation to create a major sustainability-centric facility.

Since it first opened its doors, the SSA has conducted over 1,000 sustainability-related events and training sessions, seeing over 36,500 visitors in total, in-person and virtually.

2023 alone saw the SSA facilitate almost 200 events, the launch of Singapore’s Year of Climate Action in 2018 and the Singapore Youth Action Challenge in 2019, and CDL-GCNS Young SDG Leaders Award over the years.

Over the past seven years, it has been the catalyst for far-reaching global impact, promoting renewable energy in Asean through workshops and seminars organised by the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore, as well as empowerment of women and youth through the Women4Green Network and Youth4Climate initiatives, the latter under the UN Development Programme.

Opening further doors for collaboration

In July this year, CDL unveiled the SSA’s new annex building, with the intention of further boosting collaboration in climate action and sustainable development. The space is the home base of the UN Global Compact Network Singapore, which is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.

In its expanded capacity, the SSA Annex, together with the SSA, will serve as a collaborative and community space for local and global NGO partners both within Singapore and beyond, including the Global Reporting Initiative, CDP, the Jane Goodall Institute Singapore Ocean Geographic, One Young World, FoodBank, the UN Development Programme Centre, and the World Green Building Council.

Another platform that CDL uses to engage and educate the public on climate awareness is the CDL Green Gallery, located at Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is constructed from hempcrete, a biomaterial comprising hemp plant, lime, sand and water.

Launched by CDL in partnership with NParks, the gallery is a zero-energy building that has featured 20 botanical, green or climate-related exhibitions, and has attracted over 372,300 visitors since its opening in 2013.

“The world is faced with a climate and nature emergency,” says An. “Businesses with global presence can contribute to national and global climate goals and towards low carbon and nature-positive net-zero through cross-sector partnerships and collaborations.

“This allows for wider resource sharing and expertise between public and private sectors, enabling them to mutually tap into specialised knowledge and resources that the other may lack. Climate action sees no borders. After all, there is only one planet, our shared home.”

Visit this website to learn more about CDL’s sustainability efforts.