"Momentum is driven by the power of radical collaboration, when governments at all levels, the private sector and communities unite around shared goals and shared values and share resources and unique skills and expertise to problem solve together.”

These words were part of the closing overture from outgoing COP26 high-level Climate Action Champion, Nigel Topping, and provide a beacon of hope from the private sector´s main custodian in the zenith of three years of global climate action discussions.

Topping´s words are both timely and illustrative of a future model of global collaboration and governance: This is a model that:

In this day and age, you would have to look far and wide for businesses that do not in some shape or form have a partnership focus. International organizations are built around the idea. Countless academic pieces have been written about the topic and the neoliberal origins of the public-private-partnerships as a way for governments to outsource tasks to the private sector. The market decides the future of the service at hand.

Partnerships have become a mainstream business vector. A fundamental KPI.

But, too often, partnerships are treated as an add-on to rather than foundation of the business case. At its worst, discussion of partnership can be window dressing without real merit or impact.

So, for a business that genuinely does have partnerships as a founding principle, what does this mean to us?

For us, this concept entails a whole different level of partnership. One that is based on true shared vision. Deep trust. Long-term thinking, shared capacities and mutual benefit. We work under the premise that partnerships at all levels are a key enabler of who we are as a company and how we achieve results for all stakeholders. Allow me to dive in a bit with a few examples from the Urban Partners´ world.

Large scale urban development is a complex endeavor. When we entered deliberations around the largest development project in our portfolio, the Railway City (Jernbanebyen) – a 365.000m2 brownfield development in the heart of Copenhagen, we started with a vision. This vision encompassed not just the area’s transformation, but the partnerships needed to deliver this. With plans to develop the world’s healthiest and happiest neighborhood with 25% social housing, car free zones, and 11 acres of green space, we feel with the establishment of a trusted, diverse group of partners the most important part of the project is complete – even before the cranes move in.

These partners include:

For a single project development, this is unique, and we believe this will pay off for all stakeholders in the long run.

Creating blueprints for climate and global, people-friendly urban development models equals entering a minefield of opinions and site-specific considerations. There is no one size fits all! Nevertheless, we need to think and act with a global mindset, finding the best examples of urban development to have deep, scalable and meaningful impact. We found full alignment with C40 Cities and a range of other partners including UN Habitat, Arup and the Sorbonne University around the Green and Thriving Neighborhoods concept. We are now expanding further, setting up a global pilot program to support cities from all over the world in delivering their urban projects under a broader platform of learning and sharing. Importantly, this involves scaling and copying the best solutions and practices out there. And this is not PPP in the old neoliberal sense – this is about growing municipal capacities and truly collaborating to achieve public benefit.

As an urban investor, we recognize the responsibility and accountability that falls on those who provide the capital for the built environment given the massive carbon footprint of the sector. We have set our own very ambitious net-zero targets, but also realize that our target-setting and ambition is just a drop in the ocean unless we manage to help drive deep sectoral transformation.

That is why, together with Systemiq, we launched Leaders of the Urban Future. A leader’s collective of the most ambitious built environment and real estate investors. Together, it is our hope that members can support each other to overcome some of the challenges we face in reaching net zero, and use the power of the collective to move the sector towards a positive tipping point.

These true partnerships take time and effort by all. There is an opportunity cost. But it is our strong conviction that the return of investment will make it worthwhile. And that soon this partnership model will be the benchmark for business success. Let´s enter the era of radical collaboration. Together.