SUSTAINABILITY
As a long-term property owner, Balder strives to take social, environmental and financial responsibility, and continuously improve the company's sustainability-related activities.
Balder’s sustainability work is based on global sustainability goals and international frameworks for sustainable development, including the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Global Compact and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). We have also signed the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) with the aim of getting science-based goals approved and in line with what is required to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Material topics
We have selected six of the global sustainability goals and also prioritise activities that can reduce the company’s risks in issues of social, climate, environmental as well as financial sustainability. Through Balder's sustainability framework, we have identified a number of material topics and goals, making our work more concrete.
Balder also has a framework for green financing. The purpose is to fund projects that contribute to reduced environmental impact, and the company’s ambition is to increase the proportion of green financing.
High climate goals
During 2023 we updated our climate goals and sent them for validation to Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). In brief, the goals state that we shall:
- Reduce emissions in our own operations by more than half (55%) and measure and reduce indirect emissions in the value chain (Scope 3) by 2030, with 2022 as base year.
- Achieve net-zero emissions throughout the entire value chain by 2045.
Low ESG risk
We continuously engage the independent company Sustainalytics to analyse Balder's exposure to industry-specific significant ESG risks (Environmental, Social, Governance) and how well we manage them. The analysis shows that Balder perform well in relation to comparable companies.
In 2023 Sustainalytics, a Morningstar-company, updated Balder's ESG risk rating to 12.3 from 13.8 which is well within the low-risk range, and even closer to the desirable level of negligible risk.
