Media Alert – June 7, 2021
Dear journalist,
“Our 2020 Sustainability Report marks ongoing progress in our longstanding commitment to ESG. In a year that posed unprecedented challenges, I am proud that our European team has continued to use their drive for innovation, growth, and partnership to support our customers and communities. It is a testament to our philosophy that puts ESG first, not only because it makes business sense, but simply because it is the right thing to do.” – Ben Bannatyne, President, Prologis Europe
More than a decade after the publication of our first Environmental stewardship, Social Responsibility and Governance (ESG) report, Prologis releases its 2020 ESG Sustainability Report. ESG is woven into our fabric, informing decision-making from the boardroom to all corners of our global operation. Our organizational commitment to ESG is strengthened by its inherent alignment with the strategic blueprint of the company, the business imperatives we call the 3Cs: Customer Centricity; Change Through Innovation and Operational Excellence; and Culture & Talent.
Highlights from our 2020 ESG report demonstrate how we continue to leverage our global scale to provide leading solutions in areas like energy efficiency, carbon neutrality, and customer innovation.
Environmental Stewardship
Our commitment to sustainable building design, energy efficiency and renewable energy all create value for our customers. For example, through our Prologis SolarSmart initiative, part of our Prologis Essentials programme, we partnered with our customers to install 40 megawatts globally making 2020 one of the most successful years to date. Since 2016, LED lightning has been our building standard and working together with our customers we achieved almost 50% LED coverage in 2020.
2020 also marked the opening and development of multiple Smart Building projects in Europe, adopting and advancing cutting-edge sustainable technologies, materials, building techniques (like low carbon building materials, borehole thermal energy storage, electric heat pumps) and circular building design. These Smart Buildings have set an altogether new standard for warehousing and logistics, streamlining our customers’ operations from day one and optimizing productivity as they grow.
With our newly announced global goal to achieve carbon-neutral construction by 2025, Prologis is taking a leadership role in addressing one of the largest sources of global carbon emissions: the embodied carbon of buildings. Just south of Paris, our new Moissy 2 logistics facility will be our first carbon-neutral warehouse, avoiding, reducing and compensating 100% of construction, operations and maintenance impacts throughout the building’s life cycle. Built with no gas connection, the building will rely on design efficiencies, rooftop solar, purchased green energy and borehole thermal energy storage for heating, cooling and power.
Across Europe, we partner with the international charity Cool Earth to fund the protection of rainforest lands equivalent to five times the unavoidable embodied carbon emissions associated with constructing our buildings.
Social Responsibility
Our stakeholders are fundamental partners in our business’ success. To grow long-term value, we develop deep relationships and advance the interest of our stakeholders. This means creating an environment where our employees can reach their full potential, where our products and services create unique value for customers and where we advance economic opportunity and well-being in our communities.
Examples are solving customer labour challenges by designing buildings for sustainability as evidenced by the The WELL Building Standard™.
PARKlife™, a Prologis Europe initiative, offers park facilities and amenities to customers, their employees and local communities. Many of our parks facilitate green travel options such as easily accessible public transport, EV charging stations and safe bicycle storage, which help employees get to work sustainably. Others have onsite canteens and food truck courts that provide our customers’ employees a variety of onsite dining choices. Walking trails, gyms and sports facilities are also popular amenities. PARKlife™ is a mindset and is about looking at how our shared spaces and places can become the best environment for everyone who interacts with them.
Through our Community Workforce Initiative, a unique logistics sector talent development programme, we’re able to unlock economic opportunity for our communities while engaging with our customers to address one of their biggest pain points: labour.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our commitment to support our customers and employees reinforced our standing as an unwavering partner for our stakeholders. For our customers we supplied personal protective equipment and implemented COVID-19 protocols to keep our customers’ workforce safe and their businesses running.
Our employees are the beating heart of our business, delivering value for the company and our customers and bringing our sustainability goals to fruition. As such the pandemic challenged us to conduct an immediate evaluation of our benefits and add several new offerings to support the health and well-being of our employees.
It is important to us to be a part of the communities we live and work in and this motivates us to initiate volunteering projects and philanthropy including IMPACT Day, Space for good, Dock Doors of Giving and many other initiatives across Europe.
More information about our commitment to good governance can we found here.
