Where do Chinese corporates stand in the sustainability drive?

From our survey, it is clear that Chinese corporates are well aware of the grave importance of the need to de-carbonise, and indeed many have already embarked on the drive towards net zero. According to the maturity scores we assign to occupiers and investors, classifying them into three distinct groups to define their position on the sustainability maturity journey.

• 93% of Chinese corporates are either “on the path” or “leading”, compared to 82% in Asia Pacific, suggesting the Chinese private sector has taken the cue early on.
• 80% of Chinese respondents have carbon emissions reduction as part of their sustainability strategy, and only 20% have well-defined de-carbonisation programs with strategic objectives to display continuous progress. In contrast, about one-third of APAC respondents have devised strategic plans for de-carbonisation. Being a laggard, it is important that Chinese corporates abandon their tentative approach to cutting down carbon emissions.

• Compared to the APAC dependents, Chinese respondents are slightly more focused on leveraging real estate to deliver their sustainability goals. 66% of Chinese respondents have carbon emissions reduction being specifically part of their real estate strategy. A vast majority of occupiers (96%) agree that they will proactively prioritise locations that help them reduce carbon emissions in the future.
• Collaboration between cities, investors, developers and occupiers will be instrumental in achieving the net zero ambitions of the built environment.
• The majority of respondents to our survey agree that insufficient technological infrastructure is a major barrier to achieving their de-carbonisation goals. There is immense potential for technology to help drive measurement and reporting standards as a means to accelerate reaching the goal of net zero carbon.