ESG STRATEGY

Since 2014 we have been actively rolling out our ESG program and we have had great success in managing our Environmental, Social and Governance performance. We already achieved major milestones in the period 2015-2020 including substantial reductions on energy and water consumption.
During 2020 and 2022, we accelerated our commitment to enhance our ESG performance. We performed a new materiality assessment, updated our ESG governance and developed a clear roadmap that outlines our ambitions moving forward. This includes reducing our carbon footprint, increasing green building certifications and rolling out tenant, community and employee engagement programs.

We have set new and ambitious targets for 2020- 2030. This includes reducing our carbon footprint in 2030 by 40% from the base year of 2019. G City Europe aims to become a carbon neutral organization by 2050. As of today, over 70% of our portfolio value has been BREEAM certified ‘very good’ or higher and in the coming years we want to upgrade our BREEAM certification to ‘excellent’ or higher and we expect to increase the BREEAM coverage of our portfolio even further. As we have set course to diversify our strategy also in residential real estate, BREEAM or a similar certification for residential buildings, will be an integrated part of our strategy. Community and tenant engagement programmes will be introduced and rolled out in all our centres by 2025. Policies and procedures will be implemented like the Green Lease and the updated Sustainable Procurement Policy, which describes how we expect our suppliers to meet our ESG requirements.

Feel free to download our Sustainable Procurement Policy.

Sustainable Procurement Policy

In February 2020, G City Europe launched its Green Financing Framework. The objective of this Green Financing Framework is to assist in financing Atrium’s initiatives to lower our carbon footprint and further integrate sustainability in our corporate strategy. The issuance of these Green Financing Instruments enables Atrium to engage with investors who are committed to allocating capital in support of this effort. Green financing proceeds will be used for financing and refinancing eligible green projects, covered under the Green Financing Framework, such as green buildings that meet BREEAM standards (very good or higher).

In the first half of 2021, €650 million was raised under our Green Finance Framework to refinance existing debt and finance assets that are BREEAM certified. Currently over 70% of our portfolio value is BREEAM certified, which equals the amount of approximately €1.8 billion.

Green Financing Framework

Second Opinion report by Sustainalytics

Our Board of Directors reviews and endorses our ESG strategy, our ESG reporting and planned initiatives on an annual basis. Day-to-day governance and implementation lie with our ESG Committee. This committee is responsible for defining the ESG strategy, setting long-term targets and monitoring company-wide environmental and social performance. The ESG Committee meets frequently and is led by the managing director of our retail business. Members of the Committee include the group’s Chief Financial Officer, Director of HR and an external advisor. The ESG Committee reports to the Group Executive Management team monthly. The Group’s Chief Executive Officer, as member of the Group Executive Management team, holds final responsibility on all ESG matters including stakeholder relations, climate change risks and opportunities, health and safety, diversity and inclusion, human rights and all other relevant ESG topics.

Code of Conduct