Board Statement
We are pleased to present MLT’s Sustainability Report for the financial year ended 31 March 2024 (“FY23/24”). This report details our strategic approach to environmental, social and governance ("ESG") issues and highlights our progress towards meeting our sustainability targets for the reporting year and beyond.
The Board takes responsibility for overseeing the management and monitoring of MLT’s material sustainability matters and ensuring that they are integrated into our business and strategic planning. In FY23/24, the Board reviewed MLT’s existing material sustainability matters and found them to have remained relevant for the reporting year. Cognisant of the importance of leadership in establishing the right tone, we also recognise that sustainability must be embedded throughout the organisation to maximise the impact of our efforts. We continue to empower our people with relevant sustainability-related knowledge, as well as cultivate values of environmental and social responsibility into our corporate culture and activities.
Our Sponsor, Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (“Sponsor”, “Mapletree Group” or “Group”), specifically the Sponsor’s Sustainability Steering Committee (“SSC”) and management team, has also continued to guide our sustainability practices.
We are pleased to share that we have met or exceeded all our economic, environmental, social and governance targets set for the year.
GREEN REJUVENATION
In FY23/24, we remained laser-focused on the theme of Green Rejuvenation, with the aim of improving the quality of our portfolio assets and ensuring that we achieve and maintain high levels of energy efficiency.
Green certified space increased by 80% year-on-year to account for 39% of portfolio GFA, while MLT’s self-funded solar capacity more than doubled to 36.2 MWp. This puts us well on track to achieve our target of expanding MLT’s self-funded solar capacity to 100 MWp by 2030, in line with the COP28 global agreement to triple renewable energy production by 2030. Including third-party funded solar systems, MLT has a total solar capacity of approximately 60 MWp, which is the largest installed solar capacity among S-REITs reported to-date. Additionally, this year marks the third consecutive year of planting more than 1,000 trees annually on MLT’s properties. These efforts have culminated in a notable improvement in our GRESB rating to 4-star in 2023.
SHARED BENEFITS
Positive stakeholder experience is a cornerstone of our success. To create this experience, we aim for all our initiatives to benefit key stakeholders, including our tenants, our employees and the local communities in which we operate. This Shared Benefits approach is evident in our stakeholder engagements during FY23/24, as detailed in the report.
In FY23/24, we organised five community events across our markets, and actively engaged with our employees and tenants. A group-wide Employee Engagement Survey that was conducted in FY23/24 included new components to assess employee satisfaction in multiple areas, such as MLT’s leadership and sustainability performance. The survey attained a 99% response rate and an overall engagement score of 74%, marking an improvement from 71% achieved in the previous survey in 2020.
Results of our annual tenant engagement surveys were equally encouraging: 76% of our tenants expressed high satisfaction with MLT’s ESG efforts, and 84% of them expressed high satisfaction with MLT’s property management services. The findings from these surveys provide valuable insights on areas for improvement and will help us drive our sustainability initiatives forward.
CLIMATE-RELATED DISCLOSURES
Recognising the persistent risk posed by climate change to the real estate sector, we continue to progress on our journey to adopt the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (“TCFD”) recommendations. Our efforts play a part towards achieving our ambitious emissions reduction targets, including MLT’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 emissions across our portfolio by 2030, an intermediate target that is aligned with the Group’s long-term target of net zero emissions by 2050.
In FY23/24, the Group completed the onboarding of a third-party climate risk analysis tool and conducted a quantitative climate scenario analysis on its portfolio assets. The findings highlighted the potential financial impact of climate change on our portfolio and will be used to guide our climate risk management and strategic planning decisions.
An Environmental Data Management System will be rolled out in phases to facilitate more comprehensive and precise reporting of our environmental performance. This serves to provide an accurate baseline for future target-setting exercises.
SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT
During the financial year, the Group’s internal audit team conducted a review of MLT’s sustainability reporting processes and confirmed that the action plans previously identified from the gap analysis conducted by an external consultant in FY22/23 have all been implemented.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver long-term value to our stakeholders by continuing to decarbonise our portfolio and operations, share benefits with our stakeholders and report transparently on our progress in this space. We are pleased to share that our reporting efforts have not gone unnoticed. MLT was awarded a Singapore Corporate Sustainability Award at the Investors’ Choice Awards 2023 by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (“SIAS”).
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our employees, partners, tenants and all other stakeholders for their unwavering support as we progress on our sustainability journey. There is a lot more to do, and we look forward to your continuing support and partnership.
The Board of MLTM
To access the full Sustainability Report, please click here.