Singapore’s CDL Praised for Green, Female-Friendly Culture

Singaporean property giant City Developments Limited (CDL) is the world’s only real estate company to be honoured for both its female-friendly culture and green initiatives by a pair of newly released international rankings.

The listed developer of over 18 million square feet of residential and commercial space has been recognized as one of the world’s most “sustainable” corporations for the ninth year in a row this year. Toronto-based Corporate Knights selected the firm for inclusion on its Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World ranking, drawn from a pool of 5,994 listed companies.

Announced this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the 2018 ranking includes a new algorithmic weighting system to assess the companies on a range of social, environmental and governance indicators. CDL, one of Singapore’s largest commercial landlords, is the only real estate company to appear on the list aside from Singaporean rival CapitaLand.

Separately, CDL has also been named as one of Asia’s most female-inclusive companies, joining some 100 other global firms, including leading Singaporean bank DBS, ranked on the inaugural Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) for 2018. CDL was the only real estate management and development firm to land on the index, which tracks companies across 10 sectors headquartered in 24 countries and regions.

Singaporean Builder Stays Sustainable

“Building on our firm foundation in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) management, we established the CDL Future Value 2030 blueprint in 2017,” commented Esther An, CDL’s Chief Sustainability Officer in a statement. The strategy was crafted to align with a set of United Nations sustainable development goals, and includes ramping up CDL’s efforts to curb carbon emissions intensity.

The company has raised its carbon reduction target from 25 to 38 percent by 2030 (against 2007 levels), and now aims to trim its total waste disposal by 50 percent from 2016 levels. CDL, which has built over 40,000 homes, also wants to ensure that half of its construction materials come from recycled content, low-carbon or otherwise environmentally friendly sources, it said.

Women Make Up 40% of Department Heads at CDL

The Gender-Equality Index published by Bloomberg endeavours to measure workplace egalitarianism, by assessing female representation in leadership positions, company policies and community engagement, and whether firms offer “gender-conscious” products, among other variables.

CDL says that women form about 70 percent of its workforce and 40 percent of its department heads. The company set up an internal Diversity and Inclusion Task Force last year, as well as adopting a formal Board Diversity Policy and forming Women4Green, Singapore’s first network for female executives in “green” industries.

“We commend CDL and DBS and the other 102 companies included in the 2018 GEI for their efforts to create work environments that support gender equality across a diverse range of industries,” commented Peter Grauer, Bloomberg’s chairman in a statement.

“Their leadership sets an important example that will help all organizations innovate and navigate the growing demand for diverse and inclusive workplaces,” he added.