UKGBC’s third annual
Leading
the Way report presents trends and analysis from research conducted as part
of UKGBC’s annual Sustainability 360 Reviews into each of these member
companies.
The UKGBC team
reviewed the commitments of the charity’s Gold Leaf members and collected best
practice examples across UKGBC’s five key impact areas: Climate Change,
Resource Use, Nature & Biodiversity, Health & Wellbeing and
Socio-economic impact.
The report
identifies future trends and the business case for taking action on
sustainability and sets out the strategic commitments of Gold Leaf members. It
provides insight on how organisations within the built environment can
transition towards more sustainable business practices and how UKGBC is working
with its members to make this possible.
Headline findings
include:
- 40% of Gold Leaf members have
a strategic commitment relating to circular economy (up from 6% in 2017)
- 22% of Gold Leaf members have
committed to biodiversity net gain (up from 9% in 2017)
- 48% of Gold Leaf members have
linked their strategy to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (up from
23% in 2017)
Julie Hirigoyen,
chief executive at UKGBC said: “It is encouraging to see the proportion of our
Gold Leaf members making ambitious commitments to sustainability more than
doubling in some areas in the past year. This goes to the heart of the
rationale for introducing our annual Sustainability 360 Review for these
aspiring sustainability leaders – to chart their progress and link this to our
own impact as a charity.
“That said, the
daily reminders of the extreme urgency of some of the environmental and social
challenges we face, the increased pressure coming from young children around
the world, and the ever-strengthening business case for taking more radical
action all point to the need for progress to accelerate even further.
“This review also
recognises such challenges and opportunities, and outlines progressive next
steps our members can take towards a more sustainable built environment. We
look forward to continuing to support and challenge our Gold Leaf members to
take an even more progressive stance, and to collaborate and innovate in order
to achieve more transformational change in the years ahead.”
In addition to
Leading the Way, the most recent 360 review process also informed UKGBC’s Insights
into Nature and Biodiversity report published earlier this month.
