BBP Launches Guide for Real Estate Climate Change Resilience

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07 October 2022

The Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) has launched a new guide for BBP Climate Commitment signatories and other real estate companies on climate resilience.  

The guide has been led by the BBP’s Climate Resilience Working Group and co-created with BBP members, drawing together existing industry guidance and BBP member best practice case studies to set out how to define, measure and report on climate resilient real estate portfolios.  

With the potentially catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis becoming ever clearer, with any workforce's health at evidential risk, it is critical for commercial property owners to integrate climate resilience into their business strategies. In 2019 the BBP published the Climate Commitment – a pledge open to all property companies committed to delivering net-zero buildings before 2050. The concept of climate resilience was incorporated into the Commitment from the start, seeking to ensure that signatories addressed the potential risks and opportunities connected with climate change in addition to setting out their pathways to net zero carbon.  

Factoring in Compliance to the Commitment

The new guide sets out in further detail how signatories can comply with the Commitment’s requirements concerning climate resilience, as well as guiding real estate companies early in their resilience journeys on how to get started. It includes: 

1. a clear definition of climate resilience incorporating climate mitigation, adaptation and disclosure that signatories will commit to using;  

2. an overview of eight key themes to be addressed by an organisational climate adaptation plan; and 

3. a deep dive into climate disclosure, summarising TCFD requirements and referencing case studies from the BBP membership.  

The guide will provide much-needed clarity and a consistent framework for addressing and reporting on climate resilience and includes a wide range of examples and case studies from BBP members who are leading the way in developing climate resilience strategies. The guide is available to view now on the BBP website. 

Being Practical About the Future of Business

Sarah Ratcliffe, CEO, Better Buildings Partnership said: “As science predicts that keeping within 1.5 degrees warming looks unlikely and real-life events demonstrate the impact of climate change, the need for property owners to develop comprehensive climate resilience strategies could not be more pressing. We hope this guide will provide a valuable tool for the whole industry and initiate the urgent action required to protect and prepare commercial real estate assets for the challenges that lie ahead.”  

Janine Cole, Chair of the BBP, Co-Chair of the BBP’s Climate Resilience Working Group and Director of Sustainability and Community, GPE, said: “I hope that this document will support signatories to the Climate Commitment better understand what is required of them in terms of climate resilience. I also hope it will support other property companies – including those outside of the BBP membership – to take their first steps in framing, delivering and measuring the climate resilience of their portfolios.” 

Shuen Chan, Board Member at the BBP, Co-Chair of the BBP’s Climate Resilience Working Group and Head of ESG at LGIM Real Assets, said: “An ineffective climate resilience strategy is like driving a car by only looking through the rear-view mirrors. It is only when we have a view of what lies ahead that we can anticipate and navigate a path towards our destination. The BBP’s climate resilience guide for the commercial real estate sector provides a practical framework that helps real estate businesses to better understand, prepare for and adapt to the increasing threats of climate transition and physical risks.” 

Jo da Silva DBE, Global Sustainable Development Leader at Arup Group, said: “This is a very clear and informative report that will help BBP members future-proof their businesses and respond to the new TCFD requirements in the UK. The definition of resilience embraces both mitigation and adaptation – this recognises that the first line of defense is halving emissions by 2030 and getting to net zero by 2050.” 

Picture: a climate change protest banner. Image credit: Unsplash.

Article written by Bailey Sparkes | Published 07 October 2022

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