A global conscience

And an ethos of sustainability in all we do.

Overview Our strategy ESG Sustainable finance

Overview

Our vision is to be a dynamic and agile fully integrated international real estate business, with a strong heritage, that has the unique ability to identify potential and unlock value.

Our commitment to embedding ESG policies and principles in our everyday operations is critical to our long-term performance and we want to lead in delivering sustainable value for our stakeholders.  At the core of our commitment lies the fundamental value of doing the right thing.

We are the first South African REIT to issue a sustainability-linked bond reflecting our commitment to ESG principles.

Our ESG strategy, goals and performance for the year ended March 2023 can be found in our 2023 Integrated Annual Report. Extracts taken from this report can be found here.

View report

Our sustainability strategy

We aim to create stakeholder value that:

Positively impacts
our planet

Acts as an enabler of ESG within our clients’ businesses

Improves the lives of our staff, tenants and the communities in which we operate

Our commitment is to:

Create broader stakeholder value – financial and non-financial

Embed ESG considerations into our investment process

Manage and mitigate ESG risks including climate risks

Achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, or earlier

Contribute to sustainability opportunities aligned to the UN SDGs

Our sustainability strategy focuses on our direct and indirect impact

We seek to align our sustainability strategy with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Direct

Our strategy is to use our direct impact to:

Manage our carbon footprint and decarbonise the portfolio

Eliminate greenhouse gas emissions in line with Paris agreement

Increase the use of renewable energy

Reduce and manage water usage

Reduce and manage waste across the portfolio

Protect biodiversity and incorporate nature-related considerations

Invest in / support the development of our communities

Invest in meaningful learning opportunities for our employees

Indirect

Our strategy is to use our influence to:

Provide healthy, safe and efficient green buildings

Partner with clients/tenants and our supply chain to implement ESG strategies

Provide reliable data to enable clients/property managers to promote efficiency

Engage with communities to assist with energy, water and waste initiatives

Our primary SDGs

Our primary SDGs (shown below) are those most relevant to our business and include the unique contexts of the regions in which we invest. The greatest impact we can have is through the development of our people and the communities in which we operate; partnerships with clients; and environmental and climate actions.

More on ESG

We are cognisant of the increasing need to quantify our impact and have enhanced our focus on disclosure and delivering greater levels of meaningful ESG data, this process will continue to be improved over time. Further detail on the components of our sustainability strategy can be found here.

Learn more

Sustainable finance

Sustainability-linked bond

Our sustainability-linked bond demonstrates the Fund’s commitment to ESG principles and our efforts to promote good corporate citizenship.

In April 2021, IPF (now Burstone) became the first South African REIT to issue a sustainability-linked bond. This was a milestone event for the sector.  The three-year issuance raised R800 million of unsecured bonds in a widely subscribed offer at a competitive coupon rate (3m JIBAR + 190bps), providing an opportunity to reduce the percentage of encumbered assets on the balance sheet.

View KPMG Limited Assurance Report