Building on 17 years of sustainability reporting, Singaporean real estate firm City Developments Limited's (CDL) Integrated Sustainability Report 2024 Report focuses on impact and value as its two-pillar framework.

On the impact side CDL incorporates the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its reporting. Whereas on the value side the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards, amongst others, are all incorporated into the framework.

While the ISSB includes financial materiality as a priority consideration and CDL becomes the first Singapore based company to externally assure TCFD disclosures since its Integrated Sustainability Report 2022.

"It's a forward-looking strategic tool that has guided us to capture opportunities for sustained growth," said Esther An, chief sustainability officer at CDL. "The process of materiality assessment and climate change scenario studies has helped us transform our business priorities and be more future-ready for new challenges."

The report details CDL's environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets, metrics, initiatives, and progress that have been reviewed by the management.

The Group's top priorities are; energy efficiency and adoption of renewables, climate resilience and adaptation, innovation, cyber-readiness, security and data privacy and occupational health, safety and well-being.

'Zero in on Nature' is the report's title to reflect CDL's belief in nature-based solutions. It is the first Singapore company to voluntarily report according to the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations. CDL advocates that integrating nature into its developments mitigates loss of biodiversity and achieves greater energy efficiency, complementing its Biodiversity Policy, launched in 2020. This was in line with 'Singapore's City in Nature' vision, launched the following year.

"Very holistic example of sustainability reporting for this sector with an excellent synergy of factors affecting both sustainability and financially material reporting," said one Sustainable Company Awards judge.