Sustainability
Our approach is simple: refurbish, rethink, and regenerate
Building a Greener Future
GCP’s ESG strategy is built on responsible operation, long-term stakeholder value creation, and continuous improvement in environmental and social performance. Our approach centres on sustainable real estate investment - favouring refurbishment and repositioning over new development. This strategy delivers tangible benefits to investors, tenants, local communities, and the environment.
Our ESG priorities are shaped by a double materiality assessment, ensuring we focus on sustainability issues that affect the Company’s financial performance, as well as the impact the Company has on people and the environment. We target assets with internal growth potential, upgrading them to meet high standards while minimising construction waste, energy use, and environmental impact.
ESG Ratings at a glance
Our ESG performance is evaluated by independent rating agencies, providing stakeholders with a transparent view of our environmental, social, and governance efforts. For more information, please consult with the respective rating agencies.
A Message from our Chairman
Christian Windfuhr
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Grand City Properties’ Sustainable Business strategy affirms the positive contribution we can make to tackling global challenges such as climate emergency, while safeguarding the wellbeing of our tenants and supporting our wider communities.
Our approach to property investment prioritises the acquisition of assets in need of modernisation. By upgrading existing buildings to ensure high standards of energy efficiency and low or zero-carbon status, we contribute to efforts limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Through the asset repositioning process, we identify and pursue interventions that directly contribute to improving quality of life for building residents.
Beyond this, we also create new facilities and services for wider social benefit that support better relations, better education, health and wellbeing, cohesiveness and social opportunity in the communities where we are present.
This approach is good for business. Our sustainability commitment aligns to our strategic aim of retaining residents by actively fostering tenant loyalty; it helps us attract and retain investors who want to invest in long-term resilient and low carbon assets and support a positive contribution to society; it supports our ambition to attract and retain talented staff who share our enthusiasm for customer care; it enables us to reduce risks relating to safety, environmental and social factors; and it reduces costs associated with resource consumption.
Across all stages of our Sustainable Business strategy, we recognise the importance of our employees in determining company performance. We support staff to develop specialist skills and aim to provide a work environment that reinforces diversity, high levels of motivation and promotes their health and wellbeing.
Reporting & Transparency
We provide our stakeholders with clear and relevant ESG information. Our reporting approach goes beyond compliance, aiming to stay ahead of regulatory developments.
Double Materiality Assessment
Our Double Materiality Assessment evaluates how our business affects people, communities, and the environment—and how these factors impact our long-term success. We engage with various stakeholders to identify and prioritise key topics that guide our strategy and reporting.
Consolidated Sustainability Statement
Our Consolidated Sustainability Statement is part of the Consolidated Annual Report and reflects GCP’s commitment to transparent, high-quality ESG reporting. In line with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), we disclose our material topics following the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) framework.
We report across three key areas:
- Environment: Climate Change, Pollution
- Social: Own Workforce, Workers in the Value Chain, Affected Communities, Consumers and End-users
- Governance: Business Conduct
Sustainability In-Focus
This executive summary-style report complements our Consolidated Sustainability Statement, highlighting key ESG priorities and relevant non-material topics.
ESG Frameworks and Industry Indices
Beyond ESRS, GCP’s reporting draws from leading sustainability frameworks and industry best practices to ensure comprehensive, stakeholder-aligned disclosures. Frameworks and Standards we Follow:
- EPRA Sustainability Best Practice Recommendations (sBPR): Real estate-specific metrics that help us report clearly and consistently. Our EPRA sBPR Index is available here.
- The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): Ensures we communicate climate-related risks and financial impacts effectively.
- Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): We publish a yearly GRI Content Index to provide a clear overview of our disclosures.
- Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) framework: We provide a mapping to our reporting to highlight financially relevant ESG topics.
- United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Our SDG index highlights our contribute to global goals like health, education, clean energy, and climate action.