The end of a long week of catch-ups and conferencing (some might say a long few weeks, with one more week of Auckland Climate Festival activities to go - programme details here: https://lnkd.in/gEczB9gC) involved a panel kōrero on #ESG at the 2023 Property Council New Zealand conference. My opening reflection for the panel was that whilst this was 'the ESG panel', there were ESG themes in practically every session of the conference.
We kicked off the conference with discussions on #leadership and #governance aspects, hearing about ways of leading that are more appropriate for the world we live in now, approaches that seek to build #resilience and focus on empowering our #people, particularly younger generations with very different value sets and definitions for success. We also heard several speakers speak to the importance of better engaging with #communities as we design the places and spaces that must adapt and mould both to their changing needs and the changing environment around us. We learnt about the opportunity presented by listening to and learning from indigenous knowledge - a critical aspect given the place-based focus of the #property sector. We didn't gloss over the elephant in all our rooms of #ClimateChange, both specifically on issues like #ManagedRetreat and #adaptation, but the importance and need for #EmissionsReduction and shifting modes of movement to more be localised and active.
Yes, the importance of ESG is elevated by #investor needs and demands, by disclosure frameworks that are reshaping capital flows and placing a greater focusing on addressing #environment, #social and #governance issues. But the truth is that ESG isn't just something that sits in isolation, within #sustainability and #finance teams - it pervades all of our decisions and isn't something we should shy away from, or be afraid of the shifts that it may generate.
Two final reflections. A couple of times, speakers were asked what can we individually do to advance our response to these massive issues and a the common response was to talk about it. The importance of #normalising topics that we conventionally push to the side, either because it's uncomfortable, or because we know it sparks debate cannot be underestimated. It's hard, but it's important. Finally, another question was the cost of action, whether #consumers are willing to pay for action. We need to flip this question around. Things are only currently cheap because we have externalised so many issues - be it #carbon, #environmental damage, #social impacts - what we're seeing now is actually a rebalancing of our #economic structures to bring those issues back onto our #fiscal ledgers, because our planetary ledger has always factored them in.
Many thanks to Leonie Freeman and the Property Council NZ team who pulled together a fantastic, thought-provoking programme and for all the speakers who shared such interesting insights.
#TPC23 #ThePropertyConference
#TPC23 ☀ // Everyone has an opportunity to allow innovation to come from other places and bring in other views that will ultimately have better outcomes environmentally, socially and economically.
Thank you to our panel on ESG: Shaping the Sustainable Future with Alec Tang, Partner - Sustainable Value at KPMG New Zealand, Annelies Hodge, ESG Lead Australia of NDY and Jessica Stewart, Sustainability Manager at Ginninderry.
ESG is a journey, it's not something that we are going to change overnight. If we all do our part, we can all ride the waves of change, together.
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Ngā mihi to our sponsors
PREMIER SPONSOR: Yardi
SUPPORTING SPONSORS: Cottee Parker Architects | Ecoglo Inc. | GHD Design | Rider Levett Bucknall | Resene | WT (New Zealand)
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