Our 2022 progress against our sustainability targets

In April we published our Universal Registration Document 2022 – an annual report that tracks our financial and non-financial achievements for last year. Core to this is the progress we've made on our sustainability agenda, as set out in the Better Places 2030 plan, under the Better Spaces, Better Communities and Better Together pillars.

URW is committed to supporting the environmental transition of cities to carbon neutrality by creating and operating sustainable places that Reinvent Being Together, and we have placed sustainability at the heart of our business as one of the guiding principles of all our activity.

2022 was a year of great achievements in our sustainability journey, creating growth in our communities and supporting the transition of our cities for a low-carbon future, including:

1. -41% carbon emissions across our value chain from 2015 to 2022 (total carbon footprint including Scope 3)

2. €39.7Mn of social value generated by URW's community-oriented programmes in 2022

3. 100% of Group employees assigned yearly individual sustainability objectives in 2022

About our Better Spaces commitments

1. We cut carbon emissions by 41% across our value chain, including scope 3, against our baseline year of 2015. That included a 57.9% reduction in emissions from our global operations, on track with our target to reduce emissions by 80% by 2030.

2. In total, 40% of our 2022 visitors accessed our destinations by sustainable transport, approaching our target of 50% by 2030.

3. We have also improved the energy intensity of our assets by more than 14% since 2015 and increased our on-site renewable energy capacity 12-fold in the same period, while implementing biodiversity action plans at 100% of our standing assets and development projects.

About our Better Communities commitments

1. In 2022 alone, URW's community programmes generated €39.7Mn of social value, with 96% of our shopping centres supporting at least one local charity or NGO and many supporting several. More than 750 social or environmental initiatives were delivered by our shopping centres for their communities and sustainable consumption initiatives were organised at 81% of our flagships.

2. URW staff collectively volunteered 8,278 hours of their time to support charitable initiatives in 2022 and we provided over 17,400 training hours to members of our communities, helping 877 people secure a job at our destinations or achieve a training certificate through our URW For Jobs programme.

About our Better Together commitments

1. Last year we achieved our target of giving 100% of URW staff individual sustainability goals as part of their annual objectives.

2. As part of our Diversity & Inclusion commitments, 39% of senior management roles were held by women in 2022, in line with our 2025 objective of 40% or more.

3. A total of 99% of our workforce received sustainability training, including our 100 most senior managers, who attended a two-day deep dive on climate change, net zero and sustainable construction.

4. We were the first CAC 40 company and the first commercial real estate group in France to receive the “Certifié Entreprise Fresque du Climat” label.

5. We continued to roll-out our Work Greener and employee well-being programmes in every country where we operate.

To learn more about our Better Places 2030 plan, which sets out our current sustainability targets and objectives, visit our Better Places page here and Sustainable Performance page here.

Or you can read in full about our progress in 2022 by downloading the Universal Registration Document here.