Mandatory reporting of energy use for large commerical and industrial buildings would be a huge step forward for the UK, says Burohappold’s Jim Saywell
We have seen a significant amount of movement and discussion around the net zero agenda in recent months. Developers and property owners are waking up to the challenge ahead and making commitments to ensure their projects lead the way towards achieving net zero carbon on construction and in operation.
Central to this discussion around the progress the big developers have made are the two main net zero commitments affecting the UK construction industry – the Better Buildings Partnership’s (BBP) climate change commitment and the World Green Building Council’s (WGBC) net zero carbon buildings commitment. Together these commitments set the minimum standard for developers who are serious about achieving net zero carbon.
The same principle of science-based targets is also now getting applied to the operation of buildings through the Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM). This is highlighted by the IIGCC’s Net Zero Investment Framework as the main tool for assessing real estate and is already sending shivers down the spines of investors with its graphs forecasting stranded assets over the next 30 years.
The idea behind CRREM is that you can plot your building’s performance against a science-based trajectory for that type of asset. And when it exceeds its “carbon budget” it becomes stranded because it is no longer in line with the Paris agreement. If this happens, the asset will potentially attract a “brown discount” from investors and start losing value.
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Aviva Investors warns it will divest from climate laggards
Aviva Investors has warned that it will fully divest from companies that fail to decarbonise in alignment with net-zero climate science and will issue a new programme that engages with carbon-intensive companies to meet climate goals.
Companies from the oil and gas, metals, mining and utilities sectors will all be subjected to the programme and will be required to set science-based targets
Aviva investors will require companies it invests in to deliver net-zero across all three scopes by 2050 while also creating transition roadmaps that set out intermediate steps to decarbonise.
A programme will be issued by the investors, which will run for between one and three years based on corporate progress. Aviva has warned that non-responsive businesses or those that do not comply quickly enough will be ‘escalated’, with divestment a possibility. Aviva states that divestments will apply across both equity and debt exposures