Ghelamco Poland is the first real estate company in Poland to join the international Science Based Targets (SBT) initiative, which supports the most ambitious businesses in their fight against global warming in compliance with the Paris Agreement. This is yet another important part of the developer’s ESG strategy.
The Science Based Targets initiative is a joint project of the United Nations Global Compact, CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature). The initiative was launched in 2015 to help the most ambitious companies, the leaders in their industries, to define their goals for the reduction of greenhouse gasses in accordance with the science of climate change and the commitments of the Paris Agreement. The activities of the SBT initiative are based on scientific knowledge and it promotes best practices for companies to decarbonise and limit the global average temperature rises of the Earth.
“As a leader in Poland’s commercial real estate market, we set ourselves the most ambitious targets for our ESG activities. We are the first company in Poland from the real estate sector and one of only 15 throughout Poland to have joined this honourable initiative under the auspices of international institutions. But above all, this is an expression of our feeling of responsibility for the common good, which the environment and the planet represent,” says Jarosław Zagórski, Commercial and Business Development Director at Ghelamco Poland.
“This is yet another important step in the implementation of our ESG strategy. By joining the Science Based Targets initiative, we will be able to act more effectively in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions in alliance with the largest international organisations. By 2025, we also intend to have reached energy neutrality and to fully make use of the potential of the clean energy that we are to generate ourselves in our solar farms,” says Jarosław Fiutowski, the Member of the Board responsible for ESG strategy and innovation at Ghelamco Poland.
Currently, over 4,000 businesses across the world, being the global leaders in sectors such as construction, real estate, energy and transport, work together with the Science Based Targets initiative. Ghelamco Poland is just one of 15 companies from Poland to take part in the programme and the only one from the real estate sector. Other Polish companies that participate in the programme include Allegro, Bank Ochrony Środowiska, Eurocash, InPost and mBank.
Ghelamco – a pioneer of ESG solutions in real estate
In the spring of 2022, Ghelamco was the first developer in Poland to announce a groundbreaking project to construct a solar farm with a total generating capacity of 10 MW. As part of its ESG strategy, the company is targeting to have all of its office buildings powered by energy produced from renewable sources as well as its ongoing projects and office space. As a company, Ghelamco wants to achieve energy neutrality by 2025.
The first building to be entirely powered by clean energy is to be the 200 m-tall Warsaw Unit. By only using cleanly sourced electricity, CO2 emissions throughout the life span of the building are to be reduced by over 50 percent while its overall utility usage is to be lowered by as much as 70 percent. The Ghelamco building is already today one of the most environmentally-friendly tower blocks in this part of Europe and is the first in Poland to be awarded a BREEAM certificate with the highest rating of ‘Outstanding’. Every day 40,000 sensors and 800 meters ensure the optimal use of energy as part of Warsaw Unit’s super-modern BEMS system. Thanks to this and many other technological solutions, average energy usage is 30 percent lower than comparative high-rise buildings of this type.
