Lendlease introduces a new approach to address Scope 3 emissions
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Lendlease has announced a new protocol to address the emission of carbon in Scope 3, in Climate Week NYC, an annual climate conference organized by the the international nonprofit Climate Group in partnership with the United Nations General Assembly.
According to a September 19 press release issued by Lendlease the protocol aims to accelerate the speed as well as scale of carbon reduction throughout the real estate market. The built environment currently accounts for 40% of carbon emissions globally.
Scope 3 emissions refers specifically to indirect emissions of the value chain of a company that result from upstream activities like the production from building material, as well as downstream processes like business travel or energy consumption. By contrast, Scope 1 emissions refer to direct emissions from controlled by the company resources like fuels and Scope 2 emissions are emissions of energy that are purchased from a supplier like electricity that is used by the business.
In the release even though they typically comprise the bulk of an organization’s carbon footprint Scope 3 emissions are difficult to tackle within the property industry because of the lack of guidance on reporting limits.
In the case of Lendlease, Scope 3 emissions comprise 90% of the company’s total carbon emissions worldwide. In its initiatives to decarbonize Lendlease is aiming to reach net-zero carbon emissions in Scope 1 and 2 emissions in Asia in 2025 and to reach absolute zero emissions, that is, the elimination of Scope 3 emissions, by 2040.
To accomplish this, Lendlease’s protocol outlines what needs to be measured, tracked and reported on for Scope 3 emissions. “To determine where we should focus our efforts to reduce carbon emissions, we need to know first what we’re accounting for all of our Scope 3 emissions – what is significant and what’s in or out of the range” claims Cate Harris Lendlease’s group chief of sustainability, as well as Lendlease Foundation.
To illustrate, for example, the measurement of Scope 3 emissions from purchased products and services, the Lendlease protocol specifies a reporting threshold that also includes measuring construction materials bought by subcontractors or directly at the production stage.
Harris says the protocol’s goal is to stimulate discussion and participation within the real estate industry regarding how to measure and provide reports regarding Scope 3 emissions. “If we are able to achieve that, then perhaps we could join forces as an industry to tackle the two biggest issues that are systemic in the process of decarbonising harder materials to mitigate emissions as well as the digitization and exchange of Scope 3 emissions data.”