Climate issues are without a doubt the biggest challenge of our time, and as urban developers we can make a real contribution in this area. This involves creating more sustainable places while influencing the people who live, work and stay in our city to make climate-smart choices and positive changes to their behaviour.
Climate issues
Agenda 2030 and our role in a broader context
The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development serves as a guide in efforts to ensure global development is sustainable in the long term. By joining forces in support of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the countries of the world aim by the year 2030 to have made human rights for everyone a reality, and achieved gender equality and lasting protection for our planet. The business community has an important role to play here, particularly the construction and property sector.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals we work systematically with
We can see strong synergies between the goals, which is why we are placing greater emphasis on the areas that present the most significant challenges to our business, namely:
- Goal 3 - Good health and well-being
- Goal 7 - Affordable and clean energy
- Goal 9 - Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- Goal 10 - Reduced inequalities
- Goal 11 - Sustainable cities and communities
- Goal 12 - Responsible consumption and production
During 2022, we have maintained a firm focus on Goals 9 and 12, with the aim of creating conditions for circular material flows through disassembly, reuse and recycling. Within Goal 10 we have adopted a structured approach to working with, and planning ways to reduce social inequalities in our districts.
Our ambitious sustainability work has led to activities linked to several of the SDGs now being integral elements of our business processes. For example, our work on Goal 3 Good Health and Well-being, and Goal 13 Climate Action are a direct consequence of our work on Goals 9, 11 and 12. The latter goals are therefore prioritised so that all the challenges involved can be addressed effectively.
We know that our work has an impact on all 17 SDGs, and that there are synergy opportunities between the environment, social values and economics. However, we do not underestimate the huge adjustments that remain to be made, for example in relation to Goal 13.
95 %
lower carbon dioxide emissions since 2002
60
climate risk assessed properties
73 kWh/sqm
average energy consumption
Objective: climate neutrality
Our ambitious climate targets are endorsed by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), but we are taking it further. Our climate targets include Scope 3 emissions as well. The ultimate goal is for our property management to be carbon neutral by the year 2030. To achieve this we need to be in control of all emissions associated with our operations. In addition, the negative climate and environmental impact must be minimised.
One interim goal is to invest in solar panels every year corresponding to at least 320 MWh in new and existing properties. By 2030, our solar panels should be producing 2.5 kWh/sqm Atemp per year. For new builds, the goal is double that: 5.0 kWh/sqm, and solar panels are now always included in the planning stage for new properties. The result for 2022 of 1.5 kWh/sqm shows that we are well on our way to achieving our goal. Our greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1 and 2), have declined by around 95 per cent since 2002, from roughly 40,000 to approximately 1,920 tonnes, excluding carbon offset from district heating suppliers. Compared with 2021, however, Scope 2 emissions have increased despite the decrease in energy. This is because our district heating supplier Stockholm Exergi has increased its CO₂ emissions linked to district heating by almost 30 per cent.
Our good results in terms of energy performance have been achieved via systematic energy optimisation. We have made our energy solutions more efficient through the development of building automation and digitalisation, cooling recovery, improved heat recovery and climate shell measures. Our service car fleet generates zero emissions thanks to the replacement of all service cars with electric vehicles. In addition, our company car policy allows only low-emissions cars. Changes in the property portfolio have also contributed to our progress. We are actively working on our refrigerant policy, which involves choosing refrigerants with the lowest possible carbon footprint and minimising leakage from existing machines.
Calculation of our emissions
We report our greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the GHG Protocol (Greenhouse Gas Protocol), which is divided into direct emissions (Scope 1) and indirect emissions (Scope 2 and 3), upstream and downstream. The image shows what is included in our Scopes 1 - 3.
We use actual consumption when calculating the emissions and primarily report the market-based method, as we then have statistics from 2002 onwards. However, for 2022 we also report the outcome according to the location-based method.
