Westfield in the Environment

Over recent years, the Group has sought to measure that efficiency in an attempt to understand how it might improve its environmental practices in particular, and contribute to the long-term sustainability of the company’s future. 

Through a greenhouse gas audit that was undertaken for the first time in 2006, Westfield has been able to make meaningful steps towards identifying, managing and reducing its key environmental impacts. As a vertically integrated company that funds, designs, constructs and redevelops the assets it operates, Westfield is able to incorporate an environmental sustainability lens from the concept design phase through to ongoing operation and management. 

The Group’s environmental focus areas are energy use, greenhouse gas (‘GHG’) emissions, water usage and waste. While the measurement of and reporting on energy use and GHG emissions has already been taking place for some years externally through the Carbon Disclosure Project and other reports, for 2011 the Group will also include its first external report on water consumption and waste disposal in some of its markets.

Reporting approach

Westfield reports on its environmental performance indicators using the same time period as for its financial statements, being 1 January to 31 December. For selected indicators, the Global Reporting Initiative G3.1 Construction and Real Estate Sector Supplement (GRI G3.1 CRESS) definitions have been applied.

The reporting boundary comprises all operations where Westfield has operational control and sufficient reporting systems in place. Aside from the exclusion of the five assets in Brazil, which has already been defined earlier in this report as being outside the Group’s operational control, the only areas under Westfield’s operational control that is not included in the report for 2011 is the water and waste data for the United States, which is not available. Tenant environmental impacts are also excluded as they are not under Westfield’s operational control.

The energy use and GHG emissions information is derived from our Global GHG Inventory, which is prepared annually in accordance with ISO 14064 – Greenhouse gases, Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organisation level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals. Westfield is committed to maintaining global best practice for the measurement, calculation and reporting of its GHG inventory. Each year the standards and methodologies are reviewed against any developments in local reporting obligations or GHG standards and guidance and adjustments are made as required.

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