SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Lendlease has unveiled a new protocol aimed at Scope 3 carbon emissions at Climate Week NYC, an annual climate event organised by international non-profit Climate Group in partnership with the United Nations General Assembly.

According to a Sept 19 press release by Lendlease, the protocol seeks to accelerate the pace and scale of decarbonisation across the real estate sector. Currently, the built environment contributes approximately 40% of global carbon emissions.

Scope 3 emissions refers to the indirect emissions in a company’s value chain which are generated in upstream activities, such as the manufacturing of building materials, or downstream activities such as emissions from business travel, or tenant power consumption. In comparison, Scope 1 emissions refer to direct emissions from company-controlled resources such as fuels, while Scope 2 emissions are emissions from energy purchased from a provider, such as electricity used by the company.

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According to the press release, despite usually making up the majority of an organisation's carbon footprint, Scope 3 emissions are challenging to address in the real estate sector due to limited guidance on reporting boundaries.

At Lendlease, Scope 3 emissions make up 90% of its total carbon emissions globally. As part of its decarbonisation initiatives, the firm aims to achieve net-zero carbon for Scope 1 and 2 emissions in Asia by 2025, and to reach absolute zero, which includes eliminating Scope 3 emissions, by 2040.

To get there, Lendlease’s protocol defines what should be tracked, measured and reported for Scope 3 emissions. “To know where to focus our decarbonisation, we need to first know how we are accounting for our Scope 3 emissions – what is material and therefore, what is in and out of scope,” says Cate Harris, Lendlease’s group head of sustainability and Lendlease Foundation.

For example, to quantify Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services, Lendlease’s protocol defines a reporting boundary that includes measuring building materials purchased directly or through subcontractors at the product stage.

Harris adds that the protocol is intended to spark conversation and engagement across the real estate sector on how to account for and report on Scope 3 emissions. “If we can achieve this, then we can collaborate as an industry to solve the two big systemic challenges: the decarbonisation of harder to abate materials, and the digitisation and sharing of Scope 3 emissions data.”