We are at the beginning of a decade that represents a
crossroads for our planet for the environmental and social
issues arising from climate change. For this reason, COIMA
has decided to work to make all buildings under management,
and future investments aligned with the objectives of containing
global warming within 1.5°C. We work to safeguard the
assets of our investors by investing in climate mitigation of the
portfolio and the resilience of real estate products.
The real estate sector and its supply chain (starting from building
materials, through to the involvement of the tenants who occupy
properties) have a important roles to play within the conversation
on climate change, as well as being a primary channel for the
development of specific actions to combat the rise in the global
average temperature.
COIMA is committed to studying and responding to the
challenge that climate change represents for its portfolio, and to
identifying the most effective strategies to mitigate it.
One fundamental aspect for the achievement of environmental
and social goals is the collection, governance and processing
of data, and transparency in reporting.
Decarbonisation in property development
The growing importance of environmental performance
in terms of the decarbonisation goals set by the European
Union is particularly significant for projects currently under
development.
Buildings’ lifecycle emissions include those related both to the
materials used for their construction and to energy consumption
during both construction and operation.
The construction of a new building emits about 1,000 kg
CO2e/m² during the construction period (2-3 years), two
thirds of which derive from the materials used for building the
structures, meaning concrete and steel1.
Buildings with poor emissions performances are subject to a
transition risk which becomes considerable for new projects,
both renovations and new builds.
COIMA has launched a process of analysis, research and
development to identify new construction materials and
methods to limit the adverse environmental impact of its
new constructions. In particular, always bearing in mind
that its development strategy is mainly concerned with the
requalification of existing buildings, where this is not possible
new buildings adopt the best possible technologies, to limit
their impact.
All new-generation projects will undergo in-depth analysis
to measure buildings’ future performance against the EU’s
decarbonisation goals.
A thorough study was made of the emissions generated by
the assets of the COIMA SGR Investment Funds during 2020.
This study collected buildings’ environmental data both for the
emissions generated by the direct management operations
(Scopes 1 and 2) and those generated by tenants (Scope 3).
The analysis then provided input for developing a plan for the
decarbonisation of the Investment Funds, to be applied in the
coming years.
1 LETI Embodied Carbon Primer, January 2020 (www.leti.london)