Zeroing in on Occupier emissions

We reviewed the disclosure by c400 Australian real estate occupiers to assess the who/how/where/when of their emission reduction plans:

• The sectors with large commercial real estate footprints (services and manufacturing) account for <20% of corporate emissions.
• Retail, Food manufacturing and Telecoms do have high emissions.  But these are largely process related (cold storage, data centre, networks and freight).
• For Banks and Insurers, real estate decisions can meaningfully help in meeting targets with physical premises accounting for nearly half of emissions.
• For professional services, work from home has added to emissions but there are opportunities to help staff with offsetting these.
• For Retailers, the location of logistics and warehouse facility matters. We find that emissions from warehouse facilities can be half those from transporting products.

70% of Industrial, Office and Retail occupiers (ex Resources and Utilities) have set targets to source 100% renewable energy by 2025. We see evidence of occupiers working with landlords to upgrade facilities.

Occupiers can assess how their current real estate footprint maps with Net Zero plans. In the report, we showcase examples in Government, professional services and banks.