Paolo Bevilacqua, Group Head of Sustainability, Frasers Property
With emissions, decarbonisation and resilience just some of its agenda items, the Property Council’s National Sustainability Roundtable will continue to be busy.
For Frasers Property Group Head of Sustainability and the roundtables new chair, Paolo Bevilacqua, there is a lot of work to be done.
But he is excited about the future of sustainability in the property industry, which plays a key role in electrification and decarbonisation going forward.
“I’m excited about a really strong connection we have to business and society, whether it’s from an employment perspective, or the creation of community – the impact we have on people’s sense of belonging in the places we create,” he said.
“We’ve got much more of a role to play in not just creating those places, but thinking about how they can really inspire and educate people to really do good for the environment, to do good for the broader community and the economy.”
In particular, Mr Bevilacqua is excited about the sustainability journey the residential sector is on.
“I think it’s finally going to get the attention it needs,” he said.
“I get a sense that now there is that there is an increasing appreciation of the value of a lot of the work we’ve been advocating for around sustainability: better quality homes, more comfortable homes.
“I really think there’s a big role we can play in the energy transition still. We’ve done a lot, but in the areas of electrification, renewable energy and electric vehicles the built environment has a significant role to play in that transition in so many ways.”
Mr Bevilacqua said the new roundtable will focus on energy and climate relates issues, from energy transition to decarbonisation.
A particular area of focus will be the climate-related financial disclosure system which hopes to create a standardised, internationally aligned requirement for disclosure, which just finished its consultation process.
“Disclosures around climate related risks are going to be something we will develop a fair bit over the next 12 months as a roundtable,” he said.
“Understanding where we can align and understanding what the requirements are and consulting with government.”
Mr Bevilacqua said the system will have a big impact on the board and executive leadership levels as it will require a greater level of focus.
“It’ll draw a bit more attention and generate a bit more conversation at that board and executive leadership team levels,” he said.
“Not to say that there hasn’t been that conversation happening, but I think it’ll just heighten the attention on it.”
Mr Bevilacqua said as the proposed disclosure will impact all sectors of business, it will likely create greater engagement across the sectors.
“There might be that realisation or greater realisation of the need to partner to kind of really transition or minimise risk,” he said.