One of the UK's biggest property firms secures approval for science-based targets to more than halve CO2 across its portfolio and value chain by 2030
British Land, one of the UK's largest property companies, has secured approval for its climate targets from the Science-Based Targets initiative, committing the firm to more than halving greenhouse gas emissions across its core business and value chain by the end of the decade.
The company, which manages £13.7bn of real estate assets and owns £10.3bn of land, yesterday said it was targeting a 51 per cent cut in its Scope 1 and 2 emissions between 2020 and 2030. In addition, it is seeking a 55 per cent reduction in its Scope 3 emissions per square metre of its net lettable property area over the same timeframe.
The targets build on the firm's plan last year to seek net zero emissions across its entire portfolio by 2030, using certified offsets to tackle residual emissions, and to only build net zero carbon embodied properties from 2020 onwards.
By 2020 the firm had achieved a 73 per cent carbon intensity reduction in its Scope 1 and 2 emissions from a 2009 baseline, largely through a focusing on improving the energy efficiency of its properties, which in total amount to 22.8 million square feet of floor space.
But British Land is now seeking to go further with a suite of "challenging" new targets in line with a 1.5C global warming trajectory, which the firm said would be met through undertaking net zero carbon asset audits of its properties, introducing a £60 a tonne levy on embodied carbon in its new developments to fund green measures, and the prioritisation of reuse efforts in its new build properties.
The company also said it plans to complete a whole life carbon assessment of all of its developments, and to work with its customers and its supply chain to help deliver its climate ambitions.
Matthew Webster, head of portfolio sustainability at British Land, described the targets as "stretching" but insisted "technology can play a key role in optimising energy usage and our team is highly experienced at finding new and innovative ways to make our space more efficient".
"We recognise the urgent need to be ambitious in the environmental goals we set ourselves and are supported in this by our customers, partners, suppliers and people," he added.
Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive at the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC), welcomed British Land's commitments and praised the firm's focus on using carbon levies on the embodied carbon of its buildings in order to deliver deeper reductions in energy use across its portfolio.
"If we are to truly tackle the climate crisis, we need more businesses to look beyond Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions reductions and work hard to engage closely with their customers and suppliers to drive down emissions across the value chain," she said.