Find out more about our strategy and our activities in the field of sustainability
Get to know HAMBORNER as an employer and gain an insight into our team and our day-to-day work
The shift towards a sustainability-oriented property industry is a long-term goal that we share with our competitors and our stakeholders alike. Our goal is to actively rise to meet the growing trend towards ESG integration on the business, property and investment side and to take social and ecological responsibility in the context of our value-adding mandate.
We consider the importance of sustainability for HAMBORNER REIT AG and its stakeholders on the basis of the following approach: We focus on the key impact of our business model and thoroughly examine strategic decisions and action in sustainability management. For we can only successfully keep pace with the dynamic transformation process in our industry and safeguard the performance and future viability of our business model with a clear approach and focus. This approach has also prompted us to integrate key sustainability and ESG criteria into our overall strategy and our processes.
“ESG” refers to the three sustainability-driven areas of corporate responsibility: environment, social and governance.
HAMBORNER REIT AG’s overall strategy is geared towards value-adding growth through the continued optimisation and yield-driven expansion of its commercial property portfolio. This is done in line with market developments, growth prospects and the expected potential for value added. Growing calls from stakeholders for sustainable business are another crucial factor.
The development of our implicit sustainability strategy is a dynamic process driven by two vital and fundamental questions:
The answers to these questions form the basis for our strategic sustainability programme that we are using as a roadmap for implementing our sustainability strategy and for communicating transparently with our stakeholders.
Details on HAMBORNER REIT AG’s sustainability programme can be found in our current sustainability report.
The essential key to the success of any sustainability strategy is cooperation with external stakeholders. This is why we have developed a systematic stakeholder engagement programme to intensify our interaction with the relevant stakeholders. Through various forms of dialogue, we will be putting sustainability issues relevant to business on the agenda and giving our stakeholders the chance to address their own issues, from which strategic and organisational measures may then be derived.
Details on our stakeholder management approach and stakeholder engagement programme can be found in our current sustainability report.
The key criteria for our sustainability activities are achievability and value added. The work of our sustainability management has to be supported by all our employees. This is also precisely the reason why exact resource planning is a key success factor.
We see sustainability management as an interdisciplinary task. We must tackle challenges that go beyond individual departments and overcome any form of possible compartmentalised thinking. A key step in this direction was the establishment of our internal Sustainability Committee to manage and plan our key sustainability activities.
Our internal Sustainability Committee is made up by the Management Board and the main officers or selected business areas. The Committee regularly deals with environmental, social and governance issues and is responsible for the integration and enhancement of ESG aspects in business activities. The Committee is directly involved in the strategy development process and formulates specific subject and action areas within ESG management. The involvement of the different departments into the Committee’s work allows us to make strategic decisions on behalf of the company as a whole and to work together interdisciplinarily.
In defining ESG and sustainability issues relevant to business, we are strictly guided by the principle of materiality. Our tenet is to efficiently steer the resources available and our commitment towards the issues where we identify the most environmental and social impact – at the same time utilising the most effective levers for optimising our ESG performance. This led to the definition of the following central ESG action areas:
We are advancing our environmental management across all divisions and leveraging potential along the value chain – starting with the consumption of resources in our own offices and extending to the analysis of corresponding measures without our existing portfolio.
Following the successful completion of a carbon footprint analysis throughout the property portfolio, activities currently primarily focus on formulating a decarbonisation strategy including long-term feasible CO2 reduction targets.
In the area of Portfolio Quality & Optimisation, we manage property-related challenges pertaining to carbon footprint and environmental criteria for actual renovation and modernisation work.
We also consider social criteria such as properties’ public transport connectivity or local sustainability programmes.
ESG criteria are a rising priority in the principles for managing and monitoring our company. We are also rising to meet the demand for greater accountability for the risks and opportunities of our business model in connection with ESG issues.
We are currently working on the ongoing development of our risk management system as regards ESG criteria, the intensification of our stakeholder dialogue and the continuous elevation of transparency and reporting standards.
Employee development work focuses on the consistent implementation of employee development measures, occupational health and safety, flexible working models and additional measures to enhance employee satisfaction and employer attractiveness.
Since the 2020 reporting year, we have prepared a carbon footprint report for our head office and the carbon emissions in connection with operating activities there. Carbon footprint reporting forms the basis for developing specific measures and action plans for reducing our carbon emissions. We also regularly invest in certified climate protection projects around that world that entirely offset the residual emissions generated by business activities at our head office.
