Sustainability
Our approach to sustainability
We invest in urban problem solving, guided by our four priorities:
Decarbonize the built environment
To bring down urban emissions from the staggering 70 percent of all global emissions currently generated by and for cities.
Catalyze healthy urban neighborhoods
Creating green and thriving places for people to prosper. This is all important in a world where nearly two thirds of the global population will be living in an urban environment by 2050.
Pioneer problem-solving partnerships
to bridge the gap between interests of people, cities, and capital. Historic misalignment has led to inadequate, sometimes even harmful, development of the urban ecosystem – we want to lead a new era where shared visions deliver shared benefits.
Generate attractive returns
through investing capital with a strong focus on solving urban problems to the benefit of all stakeholders.
Urban Partners Impact Report for 2023 is now available.
Discover our first Impact Report for the full Urban Partners platform, covering all our strategies and showcasing our commitment to creating positive change.
Decarbonization Journey
Cities contribute some 70% of global emissions and record-high emissions levels are putting disastrous pressure on the very ecosystems that sustain our lives. Climate change mitigation lies at the core of Urban Partners’ sustainability efforts and is embedded into all our investment strategies.
Climate mitigation and adaptation are at the core of all our investment strategies. We work with emissions categories across all scopes (1, 2 and 3), including both operational and upfront embodied emissions within real estate. We see vast business opportunities in driving the green transition of cities.
1.5°C
Paris Agreement aligned across embodied and operational emissions
44%
decrease in operational emissions between 2020 and 2023
100%
of new construction certified with DGNB Gold, LEED Gold BREEAM Very good or better
Thriving Communities
A sustainable approach to urban regeneration must be holistic, addressing both environmental and social factors. We have for many years focused on a community-anchored approach to urban development. In 2023, we continued and deepened our pioneering partnership with the Green and Thriving Neighbourhoods programme, which is led by C40, a global network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis. The aim is to accelerate the adoption of the 15-minute city and deliver a base of evidence to support new urban models.
Explore our community projects: Thriving neighbourhoods are more than green
Beyond investing in thriving neighbourhoods, we give back to our cities through the impact of our employees. We are committed to helping communities thrive by supporting local initiatives across all the places where we operate.
Frameworks & Commitments
Transparency and industry standardization are crucial to accelerate the green transition. Urban Partners builds its sustainability strategy around leading ESG frameworks from group to asset/investment level. Alignment with third-party validated frameworks ensures that Urban Partners deploys best practices and works transparently towards industry recognized, shared objectives.
The Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) builds on deep climate science and has gained the necessary momentum to ensure alignment and comparability within industries and across sectors. We believe that wider adaptation of SBTi can accelerate change in the real estate industry.
