Lendlease Europe halves Scope 1 and 2 emissions in one year

Lendlease Europe publishes our second Mission Zero Progress Report, detailing the progress made in 2022 on our Roadmap to Absolute Zero Carbon.

Lendlease Europe's second annual Mission Zero Progress Report highlights promising progress made throughout 2022 towards our carbon reduction targets. This includes a commitment to being a 1.5-degreeC aligned company, achieving Net Zero for Scopes 1 and 2 by 2025 and Absolute Zero Carbon by 2040, across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, with no offsets.

The science tells us that the window for keeping 1.5-degreeC within reach is rapidly closing. And with the built environment sector contributing c.40 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, we know that we must act with urgency to radically reduce emissions.

This year we reported a 53 per cent year-on-year reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions from the fuels we burn and energy we procure, by switching to low carbon non-fossil fuels on construction sites, powering our business with renewable electricity and beginning the process of decarbonising heating networks across our development portfolio.

However, our Scope 3 emissions now present by far our greatest challenge. Scope 3 emissions represents approximately 99 per cent of our carbon footprint in Europe, of which the vast majority comes from embodied carbon in building materials.

In the report, we share how we are starting to make headway to tackle Scope 3 emissions through innovative design and construction approaches, selecting lower carbon building materials and collaborating with cross-sector coalitions and industry groups to decarbonise energy-intensive materials like steel and concrete.

Key achievements outlined in the latest Mission Zero Progress Report include: Construction related Scope 1 emissions were reduced by 64 per cent by switching over three quarters of our fuel to renewable diesel, and by trialling hydrogen fuel cell technology.

97 per cent of electricity purchased across Europe was renewable; plus fossil fuel-free heating and cooling networks were designed for new projects such as Silvertown in East London.

Low carbon steel, concrete and aluminium products were specified on our own developments and external client projects and the business participated in innovative industry groups driving material decarbonisation.

Contributed to action research projects with the goal of accelerating mass timber construction in the UK and Italy with not-for-profit Built by Nature.

Developed strategies to reduce embodied carbon by at least 30 per cent against original building designs for external construction clients.

Bolstered our existing A$800m raised in green bonds globally with a debut GBP250 million pound sterling green bond.

Neil Martin, Chief Executive Officer for Lendlease Europe said: 'The progress we've reported against our Mission Zero Roadmap this year demonstrates how we are acting with urgency to cut carbon emissions across our business, and we'll continue to focus on reducing them further together with our suppliers and the wider industry.'

Sarah Ratcliffe, CEO of the Better Buildings Partnership, said: 'Lendlease's update on its Mission Zero shows just how much can be achieved in the space of a year, with an impressive 53% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions. While the challenge of Scope 3 looms large - constituting 99% of Lendlease's emissions in 2022 - the variety of different approaches being employed at a project level make for encouraging reading, although there is still a long way to go.'

Contact:

Ashley Chrysler

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