Mumbai: Lodha, India’s largest real estate developer, announces to go carbon neutral by 2035. It comes against a backdrop of a visioning and road mapping exercise done with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) that had also advised Lodha in the sustainability planning of their flagship Palava city project. The announcement comes forth at a time when fighting climate change has become a business imperative and the brands showcasing commitment towards a sustainable framework are becoming the preferred choice of the customers as well.
On the announcement, Abhishek Lodha, MD & CEO, Lodha Group said, “Over the past few years, climate change and sustainable development have become ever contextual. So, it is important to develop the right perspective towards climate change, and the significant transition and physical risks that global warming confronts us with. We have realized that we have a much larger responsibility as a leading player and we have been setting benchmarks for high quality and sustainable developments, across price segments in India. With the commitment towards providing a better Earth to our future generations, we are establishing a North Star goal of carbon neutrality in our operations by 2035, adhering to an internationally recognized commitment framework.”
“RMI and RMI India are dedicated to their mission of responsibly and cost-effectively decarbonizing buildings by 2050. We are consistently collaborating with Governments, and business leaders on several projects to enable a low carbon future for India. We had worked previously with Lodha and knowing their solid commitment to a zero-carbon future, we are pleased to collaborate with them again in developing the vision and framework towards their ambitious 2035 carbon neutrality goal.” said RMI Spokesperson, Victor Olgyay.
Lodha, under the guidance of RMI, has formulated a broad scope for sustainability, encompassing energy efficiency, energy procurement, embodied carbon, waste, water, and transportation. Successful pilot projects will provide opportunities to scale up feasible solutions and achieve significant emission reductions for the overall buildings’ portfolio. The entire process will be undertaken in two phases – while the first phase will prioritize emissions from owned sources (company facilities, company vehicles) and generated from purchased energy, the second phase is going to address indirect emissions occurring in the value chain, such as tenant energy, transportation, and embodied carbon. This is further in alignment with the internationally recognized GHG Protocol’s scope 1, 2, 3 emissions accounting standards to establish a baseline emission inventory.
With the fast-paced growth of the real estate sector, green and sustainable developments are witnessing an increasing demand. Lodha’s recent pledge aggregated with similar commitments from various corporates can significantly reduce India’s carbon emissions and eventually aid in the goal towards a zero-carbon future.
* By Residential sales from FY 2014-2020
