RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust Releases Second Annual Sustainability Report Demonstrating Industry Leading ESG Performance
TORONTO, Sept. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (“RioCan”) (TSX: REI.UN) today released its 2019 Sustainability Report detailing its progress toward industry leadership in environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) matters. The Sustainability Report is available to read or download here:
“RioCan is committed to being a responsible Canadian REIT and its leadership team is taking action to drive our ESG performance. Embedding sustainability in all aspects of our business improves the value of our assets and our organization,” said Jonathan Gitlin, President and Chief Operating Officer of RioCan. “Responsible business practices are the cornerstone of our values and operations and we strive to make sustainability not just a business priority, but also business as usual. We have made significant progress toward our goal of industry leadership and are proud to highlight our activities and achievements in this report.”
The 2019 Sustainability Report shares progress over the last year across priority areas where RioCan believes it can have the most meaningful impact: Environmental Leadership, Community Leadership and People Leadership. Highlights include:
- Achieving an ‘A’ rating - the highest GRESB public disclosure score;
- Improving RioCan’s GRESB survey score by approximately 29%, reflecting three consecutive years of improvement;
- Increasing the number of BOMA BEST1 certified properties to over 60 across Canada;
- Completing a nationwide LED retrofit program across RioCan’s portfolio of properties; and
- Including environmental and social competencies in our Board skills matrix and incorporating ESG specific goals in RioCan’s employee performance review process.
RioCan’s Sustainability Report was prepared in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative Standards. It includes indicators from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Real Estate sub-sector and recommended disclosures from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.
Detailed information about RioCan’s sustainability strategy can be found here: in the dedicated Sustainability section of RioCan’s website.
| 1. | BOMA BEST® is a national green building certification program launched by BOMA Canada in 2005 to address an industry need for realistic standards for energy and environmental performance of existing buildings based on accurate, independently verified information. |
About RioCan
RioCan is one of Canada’s largest real estate investment trusts. RioCan owns, manages and develops retail-focused, increasingly mixed-use properties located in prime, high-density transit-oriented areas where Canadians want to shop, live and work. As at June 30, 2020, our portfolio is comprised of 221 properties with an aggregate net leasable area of approximately 38.6 million square feet (at RioCan's interest) including office, residential rental and 15 development properties. To learn more about us, please visit .
For further information contact:
Investors:
Kim Lee
Vice President, Investor Relations
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust
416-646-8326
Media:
Terri Andrianopoulos
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust
416-646-8138
