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But it's not the only battle being waged.
The environmental, social and governance movement (ESG) is gaining momentum and compelling commerce and industry to re-evaluate the way it does business and to seek out sustainable models to create value that recognise the interconnectedness of people wherever they live, no matter what they do.
We as Hyprop need to assess the risk to our business, of course, but double materiality demands ESG is equally concerned with our impact on the world around us. There is no “them” or “us” anymore, and what happens “there” matters “here” and indeed “everywhere”.
Climate change, Covid-19 and the movement for inclusivity and diversity are defining global developments which are changing the way we live and work, and elevating ESG activities and reporting to a heightened level of importance.
ESG has evolved beyond helping investors manage financial risk to doing what we can – and must – to promote a sustainable future for the generations who will follow. Yet, this transition to sustainable ways of doing business must be done while meeting the needs of our customers and delivering the returns our investors want.
It is within this context that we understand our responsibility to manage our business so stakeholders can better assess our impact, now and in the future, on the communities we serve and the natural environments we operate in.
We want our work to make a positive contribution to all our stakeholders, as well as to our broader society. Sustainability is central to the environments we operate, the people we work with and serve. Most importantly, sustainability is critical to the norms, values and rules by which we operate our business.
In developing our sustainability strategy, Hyprop has committed to five of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations in 2015, serving as a call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and deliver an environment in which all would, by 2030, live in peace and prosperity.
SDGs – numbers 1, 6, 7, 12, 13 – provide an overarching framework to shape, steer, communicate and report our sustainability strategies, goals and activities. The five SDGs we have committed to are:
Although these goals are ambitious, Hyprop is dedicated to achieving them and make a difference. This provides the basis from which to advance sustainable development through the investments we make, the solutions we conceptualise and the business practices we adopt. It also helps us reduce the negative impact our business might have while enhancing our positive contribution to the global sustainable development agenda.
Pioneering conscious retail is one of three guiding principles for our Golden Thread, which is blending brand, people and places to create distinctive, differentiated centres which will become increasingly important to our customers as e-commerce grows.
Sustainability is integrated in our business, and includes recycling, reducing waste, managing assets to be more energy and water efficient and reducing carbon emissions in line with the national targets. Our sustainable procurement and BBBEE policies seek to change the historical patterns of privilege and poverty. We continue to preserve and develop our human capital resources and manage our financial resources in a prudent and responsible manner while effective governance integrates integrity and performance.
Ultimately, we want to create more pleasing physical environments for our staff, tenants, and customers to work, shop and entertain.
Our commitment to the principles and practice of ESG will help us blend the needs of our different stakeholders for as the world’s sustainability paradigm shifts, so too must the way we all live and work.