The X Factor: CapitaLand's quest for innovation and sustainability

Speak to CapitaLand Group’s chief sustsainability officer Lynette Leong and she will tell you of a harrowing incident in New Zealand some years ago that forced her to evacuate by helicopter to safety. The unprecedented event, triggered by uncertain weather patterns, helped to hit home the growing threat of climate change around the world. It is with this knowledge that she leads the sustainability and business strategy of the Singapore-listed property developer, which recently published a masterplan outlining aggressive ESG (environment, social and governance) targets by 2030. As part of its strategy, it recently announced the CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge (CSXC) — “the first sustainability-focused innovation challenge by a Singapore real estate company on a global scale”, says Leong. It offers individuals and companies opportunities to test-bed sustainability innovations in CapitaLand’s properties across more than 220 cities in over 30 cities. To date, it has received over 270 entries in over 30 cities, prompting CapitaLand to extend its deadline for submissions to 17 February 2021. Last week, the Group also annnounced state investor Temasek as a lead partner of CSXC, with winners of CSXC given the opportunity to showcase their innovations to a global community at the annual Ecosperity Week, a sustainability forum organised by Temasek Holdings. In this exclusive podcast, Eco-Business speaks to Leong on why one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups with a global portfolio of about S$133.3 billion has banked on sustainability and innovation to drive its next era of growth. In this wide ranging interview, Leong also elaborates on a new metric called “Return on sustainability” that measures the return of investment the Group makes on ESG efforts, net zero targets in the real estate sector, Covid-19’s impact and the role of developers in addressing migrant worker welfare issues. Join the CSXC before 17 February 2021 at www.capitalandsustainabilityxchallenge.com

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