Capital & Regional has today been announced as the latest organisation to join the Better Building Partnership’s industry leading Climate Commitment. Capital & Regional is the sixth organisation to join the commitment in 2022, which now represents 35 companies, over £400 AUM and more than 11,000 properties globally. 

Capital & Regional have set an ambitious target to reach net zero carbon (NZC) by 2040 across the business’s shopping centre portfolio. Their pathway outlines a roadmap and short, medium and long term actions to reach their target across operations, refurbishments and acquisitions. As part of the pathway, Capital and Regional have calculated the scale of the business’s carbon footprint, including Scope 3 emissions from tenant energy use and landlord water and waste. The pathway builds on the outputs of detailed net zero carbon asset audits undertaken over the course of 2021 and 2022, which identified and costed measures required to hit net zero.

The BBP Climate Commitment requires signatories to publish net zero carbon pathways and delivery plans, disclose the energy performance of their assets and develop comprehensive climate resilience strategies. To support signatories, the BBP has published a Net Zero Carbon Pathway Framework, and has an ongoing programme of work to support its members on their journey to Net Zero Carbon.

Adam Smith, Climate Change Programme Lead, Better Buildings Partnership said: “We are delighted to welcome Capital and Regional to the rapidly expanding number of signatories to the Climate Commitment. Shopping centre assets offer unique challenges but also opportunities around net zero. It is great to see that Capital and Regional have informed their pathway with a series of detailed net zero carbon audits at the asset level, which involved active engagement with their occupiers – an important set of stakeholders for decarbonising retail assets.”

Lawrence Hutchings, CEO, Capital & Regional said: “The creation of our net zero carbon pathway is an important milestone on our journey and defines the actions and priorities we need to put in place to stay true to our commitment to our communities, employees and the long-term resilience and success of our business. As a large employer and provider of essential services and community infrastructure across the UK, we have a responsibility to our stakeholders to ensure we build and operate a shopping centre portfolio that minimises its negative impact and contributes positively to the people and environment around it. We are delighted to be able to become a signatory of the BBP’s Climate Commitment and we look forward to engaging and supporting other BBP members to help drive the sustainability agenda across the real estate sector.”

Note to Editors 

The BBP  
The Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) is a not-for-profit collaboration of the UK’s leading property owners who are working together to improve the sustainability of the UK’s existing commercial buildings. The organisation's aim is to deliver market transformation through sustainability leadership and knowledge sharing across the UK property industry. The BBP currently has 49 members who represent more than £275bn Assets Under Management (AUM).  

BBP Climate Commitment  
 
Signatories of the BBP Climate Change Commitment include abrdn, Aviva Investors Real Estate, British Land, Bruntwood, Cadogan, Canary Wharf Group, Capital & Regional, DWS, Derwent London, DTZ Investors UK, Federated Hermes, Frasers Property, GPE, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, Grosvenor Europe, Helical plc, Hibernia REIT, Landsec, LaSalle Investment Management, LGIM Real Assets, Lendlease Europe, Low Carbon Workplace, M&G Real Estate, Nuveen Real Estate, NewRiver REIT, Orchard Street Investment Management, Picton, Royal London Asset Management, Savills Investment Management, Schroder Real Estate Investment Management, Shaftesbury, SEGRO, Transport for London, The Crown Estate and Workspace Group plc.