Property developer City Developments (CDL) has published a new sustainability report that is the first in Singapore to achieve the International AA1000AS (2008) Assurance Standard for Sustainability Reporting.
CDL has been pushing annual sustainability reports since 2008, which highlight the company’s economic, social and environmental activities, and tracks its performance in these areas.
The AA1000AS (2008) Assurance Standard is an international standard that provides a comprehensive way of holding an organisation to account for its management, performance and reporting on sustainability issues.
It does this by evaluating the adherence of an organisation to certain accountability principles and the reliability of its performance information.
CDL and other developers such as CapitaLand has in recent years had its sustainability reports checked by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
CDL said on Tuesday its reports have improved from the initial Level C in 2008 to Level B+ in 2009 and 2010.
Mr Kwek Leng Joo, Managing Director of CDL said: “With increased emphasis on the triple bottom line and growing expectations of stakeholders, we will continue to be nimble and evolve in anticipation of the changing business and CSR landscape.
“If there is one lesson to be learnt from the aftermath of the recent financial turmoil, it is the affirmation that companies with sustainability in their DNA are more resilient and make a better business model,” he added.
CDL’s commercial development 11 Tampines Concourse was also the first CarbonNeutral development in Singapore and Asia Pacific.
The firm said it has achieved a significant reduction of 10 per cent on its total carbon emissions as compared to 2008. It estimates that some 10,265 tonnes of carbon emissions or S$4 million in electricity will be saved annually from its 10 Green Mark awarded buildings in 2009.
