Welcome Message from the Managing Director
Since 2003 Investa has been committed to publishing relevant and reliable information about how we manage our social and environmental impacts. I am therefore pleased to present Investa's first interim sustainability report, the 2007 Sustainability Results Update.
When Investa was acquired by funds under the management of Morgan Stanley and delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in September 2007, we took the opportunity to reinvigorate our sustainability platform. Recognising that we are no longer obliged to publish an annual financial year end report, it made sense to shift our sustainability reporting year to align with international peers that report on a calendar year basis. This interim report prepares us for the transition to reporting on a calendar year basis from now on.
Our most recent full financial year sustainability report was our fifth. In it we presented strong results, described a variety of innovations and explained our strategy – past and present. Given we are no longer publicly listed, we do not qualify for inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, the Global 100 list of the world's most sustainable corporations, or any of the various analyses and studies that aim to evaluate the sustainability of public companies. While on the one hand this is disappointing; on the other, it challenges us to further demonstrate the value of our sustainability platform through the impact it has on the success of our business. Future sustainability reports will maintain our accountability for results as well as showcasing our innovations.
"our impacts continue to fall, with the intensity of emissions and water use within our office buildings now 23 percent and 37 percent below our 2003/04 benchmarks respectively"
This being an interim report, we have concentrated on the most significant environmental and social impacts over which we have the highest level of control. Consequently, it focuses on our results from managing greenhouse gas emissions and water usage.
We recognise that in the future we will be more accountable for our business' energy and water usage than we have been in the past. Accordingly, we are focussed on doing what we can within commercial limitations to prepare ourselves now. It is pleasing to note, therefore, that our impacts continue to fall, with the intensity of emissions and water use within our office buildings now 23 percent and 37 percent below our 2003/04 benchmarks respectively. Our recent 'Green Globe' Award for Climate Change Leadership from the NSW Government was further testament to the significance of this achievement.
This report is particularly important because for the first time Investa is reporting its complete greenhouse emissions and water consumption footprint. We undertook this task for a variety of reasons including our desire to be able to fully quantify our impacts, opportunities and risks in order to better manage them. We also wanted to thoroughly understand the implications of the Government's new reporting requirements before they come into force. I find it pleasing that as a consequence we now have a clearer understanding of how significant our successes in reducing the portfolio's resource intensity have been.
I encourage you to read this report and welcome any feedback you have as it will help us improve again next year.
John Thomas
Managing Director and CEO
22 April, 2008