The triple bottom line: People, planet and profit
This framework is at the core of Esther An’s approach towards sustainability at City Developments
IT WAS late 1994, and Esther An was meeting the late Kwek Leng Joo – then managing director of City Developments Limited (CDL) – to discuss employment opportunities at the property company.
She recalls the feeling: not too hopeful. She had spent the last three years at a bank. After giving birth to her second daughter, she was looking for a change in profession. The trouble was she had little knowledge of the real estate sector and no experience in it.
When Kwek asked her for her opinions on the property sector, her response was to criticise the industry’s reputation in terms of environmental impact.
“I was too honest,” An recalled in an interview with The Business Times, adding that she expected not to get a callback.
It turned out that Kwek appreciated her honesty, and An was hired to take on public relations responsibilities at CDL in 1995.
That evolved into a corporate communications role as the team took on more corporate social responsibility functions, which then gradually expanded into sustainability.
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Over the years, and even before CDL created a dedicated sustainability team, An made special efforts to support sustainability efforts at the company.
She pushed CDL to participate in the United Nations (UN) Global Compact in 2005, launch a sustainability report in 2008, and voluntarily conduct biodiversity impact assessments on greenfield sites in 2010.
An was appointed CDL’s chief sustainability officer in 2014, marking the first time a listed company in Singapore had made such an appointment. With this, her focus was no longer split between sustainability and communications; and she was able to focus on greening the company’s buildings and operations.
A lonely journey
An’s entry into CDL marked a major turning point in her life, but she had no grand plans or vision at the time to be the sustainability practitioner that she is today. Even the late Kwek Leng Joo probably had not foreseen how mainstream sustainability would become, she said.
“I won’t want to tell people that I was a visionary 30 years ago. It was just coincidence, maybe fate, that gave me the opportunity to join an industry where I could make a difference,” she said.
Bonding with Kwek over a shared interest in nature photography, An said CDL’s sustainability playbook came together easily.
“It was very simple. It’s not like we engaged McKinsey to come and do branding and all that. It was just two brains,” she added, referring to the company’s ethos of “conserving as we construct” that was established in 1995 as a result of their discussions.
Getting the rest of the company on board, however, was a lonelier journey.
There was hardly any interest in the first few sustainability reports CDL published, even from the company’s own investor relations (IR) department. Back then, sustainability reporting was entirely voluntary.
“Every time we pushed the sustainability reports to the IR, they pushed them back to us. Nobody wanted them. Really, it was so sad,” said An.
She also had to face negative comments around her efforts to continue producing these reports. “Don’t do it. What for? Are you very free? Why do you want to do a sustainability report?” the naysayers said.
It was only in 2017 – two years after the Paris Agreement on climate change was inked – that the company started to notice investor interest in these reports.
Balancing commercial needs and sustainability
Challenges to An’s sustainability efforts also came in the form of various financial frameworks and considerations that came with being a listed company.
When CDL wanted to issue a green bond, An spent months learning about the process, setting up a green bond framework and having it verified. After all the necessary elements were in place, at the end of 2016, it was decided that the interest rates were not favourable and plans to issue the green bond were put on hold.
When a window of opportunity came in April 2017, An said, there was an urgent “go/no-go” meeting. CDL would go on to issue the first green bond by a Singapore-listed company.
Another project that has caused An to have many sleepless nights is the CDL Eco Train being installed at City Square Mall.
Repurposed from a decommissioned train car, the train was intended to be a classroom and exhibition space on various sustainability topics.
Figuring out where to place the decommissioned car and transporting it in one piece required plenty of discussion and coordination among government authorities, engineers, project managers and consultants.
Not only was the project delayed by several months – it also went over budget by between 20 and 25 per cent.
“We overshot the budget. That is the biggest challenge because as a listed company, we are very, very prudent, to the extent that we are quite tight in cost control. And don’t forget, these are investments into the community. There is no return on investment,” said An.
“Last year was very difficult. I could not sleep because of the budget. It’s so expensive, and nobody has done it before.”
Such trade-offs are sometimes inevitable, An said, but the triple bottom-line framework – which assesses a company’s success around people, planet and profits – is at the core of her approach towards sustainability.
“You need to look at the profitability… If you don’t have resources, how are you going to take care of the people and the planet?”
“I also know everybody wants to save the world, save the universe. But we are a small country, a small economy; (and CDL is) not the biggest company in the world,” she added.
To do what it can, CDL has set a target to be operationally net-zero by 2030. Its target was verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative in 2018, with a renewal in 2021.
Its latest sustainability report also integrated the disclosure framework recommended by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures.
An’s efforts have helped CDL earn numerous sustainability accolades, and garnered recognition for An herself. She was named Impact Leader of the Year at this year’s Sustainability Impact Awards, jointly organised by BT and UOB.
In 2018, she was the first Singaporean to be named an SDG Pioneer for green infrastructure and low-carbon economy. The UN programme recognises business professionals who have been significant in advancing the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, as well as principles of the UN Global Compact.
Paying it forward
While An’s initial years as a sustainability practitioner were characterised by loneliness, the landscape has shifted significantly since then.
From a “good-to-have”, sustainability has gradually evolved into a “should-have” and is now a “must-have”, An said.
This has also meant that An’s work over the last 30 years has become increasingly visible. Her speaking engagements have gone up significantly compared with the pre-Covid days.
Thankful that her time in CDL has given her the opportunity to build her knowledge on decarbonising the real estate sector, as well as sustainability reporting, she believes she should be paying it forward by sharing her knowledge with others as well.
That may be in her capacity as an adviser, through her participation in 26 boards and task forces, or as a mentor under the Young Women’s Leadership Connection – or even through her LinkedIn channel, where she has found surprising reach.
In one instance, industry peers from Germany requested a German translation of CDL’s two-pillar approach in its blended reporting after she had posted about it on LinkedIn.
“We’re not selfish. Someone asked us to copyright this two-pillar approach. Even if people want to adapt, let them adapt. Why do we want to charge any money? I said no, I don’t think it’s necessary,” she added.
She also believes it is her responsibility to mentor and nurture younger executives who have the potential and interest to take up sustainability as a career.
Despite being on this journey over the last 30 years, An doesn’t see herself stopping anytime soon. She draws her inspiration to keep chugging forward from marine biologist and oceanographer Sylvia Earle, as well as primatologist Jane Goodall.
“They have served the planet for 60 years, more than 60 years. When Jane Goodall moved from London to Tanzania, she was only 26 years old. Sylvia was the first female marine scientist in America. She was not even 30 years old.
“When I look at them, I think: Don’t talk about retirement. Talk about today and what you can do.”
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