A message from our Managing Director
Michael O'Brien, Managing Director QIC Real Estate:
This year, the QIC Real Estate team has continued the important work of delivering and implementing our environment, social and governance (ESG) strategy across our asset portfolio. It has been pleasing to see this work come to fruition, and I am extremely proud of the achievements the team has made to date.
We continued to progress our work to understand the potential financial impacts of physical climate risk across our real estate asset portfolio, through scenario analysis across agreed short-, medium-, and long-term time horizons, with a particular focus on the relationship between climate impacts and Net Operating Income (NOI). This work is allowing us to identify the material climate-related risks and opportunities for our asset portfolio, understand our existing levels of resilience and prioritise any future efforts to strengthen resilience towards those climate impacts likely to have the biggest financial impact on our assets, setting us on a stronger course as we navigate the challenges ahead.
Pleasingly, I can report that this year, QIC Real Estate met or exceeded all interim carbon emissions (Scope 1 and 2) reduction targets across each of our Funds.1 These interim targets act as an important stepping-stone to reaching our longer-term ambition of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2028.
As we work towards our net zero carbon emissions objective, we are continuing our large-scale onsite solar rollout program, commissioning new systems at shopping centre assets in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. The completion of these systems has added an additional ~3 megawatts of onsite solar capacity to the ~16 megawatts already installed across our retail assets.
We also achieved important milestones in the delivery of our Community Investment Program this year, which is focused on the theme of ‘physical health and wellbeing’. In collaboration with our community partners Nutrition Australia and YMCA, we commenced roll out of our co-designed program, the Wellness Hub, across 16 assets in our portfolio, delivering a range of activities for people of all ages with the aim of increasing their understanding on how to improve their own physical wellbeing.
Our Wellness Hub program, alongside the delivery of other community support programs across our asset portfolio, saw QIC Real Estate provide approximately $1.59 million in community contributions in FY23, an increase of 26% from FY22.2 We recognise the important role our centres play in our communities, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to contribute in this way.
In FY23, QIC Real Estate updated and strengthened our Indigenous Delivery Plan designed to support and complement QIC’s Innovate RAP. The key areas of focus of this Plan include community engagement and awareness, investment, procurement, employment, and governance and reporting. This year, our procurement spend with Indigenous businesses was approximately $1.1 million, a notable increase from the previous year.
My team and I hope you enjoy reading more about the key achievements and ESG highlights presented here in our 2023 ESG Report.
2023 Report Highlights
1 Net Zero Carbon Emissions targets apply to only assets that are 100% owned and managed by QIC (making up the following percentages of each Fund's portfolio value at 30 June 2023 - QTCF: 89%, QPF: 88%, QARP: 100%, QACPF: 91%, QOF: 99%). Short-term targets to reduce carbon emissions are in line with each Fund's Net Zero Carbon Emissions target, which rely on increase in renewable energy consumption through onsite solar roll out and purchase of grid sourced renewable energy (QPF and QTCF: ~70%, QOF: ~60%, QARP: ~64%, QACPF: ~68%) and reduction in electricity consumption through efficiency upgrades (QPF and QTCF: ~25%, QOF: ~35% including efficiencies achieved to date (~26%), QARP: ~21%, QACPF: ~22%). Baselines: (QPF and QTCF: 2018, QOF: 2015, QARP: 2021, QACPF: 2021). Carbon offsets will be purchased for residual emissions from sources with no existing fossil fuel free alternatives. Progress is quantified and receives limited independent assurance annually, in accordance with the Australian Standard on Assurance Engagements (ASAE3000). QPF, QTCF, QOF, QARP and QACPF are signatories to the World Green Building Council's Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment.
2 QIC Real Estate is a member of B4SI and pays an annual fee.
3 QIC Real Estate is a member of B4SI and pays an annual fee.
