(25 October 2021, Hong Kong) About 60% of employees in Hong Kong believe the office can be highly impactful in reducing carbon emissions, according to JLL (NYSE: JLL). The firm is strongly of the opinion that it’s time for business leaders in Hong Kong to engage with employees and achieve carbon reduction in the workplace, with more than four in ten (43%) employees expressing a desire to contribute to sustainability agendas to meet future carbon reduction targets – identifying real estate as a major catalyst for carbon reduction.
JLL Asia Pacific’s “Sustainability in the built environment: An employee perspective” report published today surveyed 1,200 employees, aged between 21 and 45, across the region, including 200 employees in Hong Kong.
Figures from the report show eight in 10 employees in Hong Kong believe that sustainability initiatives are a must for business today and 75% expect their companies to follow sustainable business practices. However, more than half (57%) of employees are not aware of their companies’ carbon reduction goals, while 68% said their companies do not involve them in green initiatives. About 43% of employees expressed a desire to contribute to sustainability agendas to meet future carbon reduction targets.
Gavin Morgan, Managing Director, at JLL in Hong Kong, said, “The rising awareness on sustainability has created significant opportunity for business leaders to take aggressive action and team up with the employees to reduce carbon emissions in the workspace. Our firm is committed to sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint for our clients as well as ourselves. We have received increasing enquiries from our clients about adopting a sustainability strategy in their workplace and properties in recent months. At JLL, we strongly believe that through engaging employees in greening your business by showing them how they can contribute – and giving them the tools to make sustainability a part of their own lives – they will become more satisfied workers and better ambassadors”.
In Asia-Pacific, approximately 70% of employees believe that offices can be highly impactful in reducing carbon emissions and 90% see residential buildings as a catalyst to enhance urban greenery. But two-thirds (65%) of staff are not aware of their companies’ carbon reduction goals and 60% said their companies do not involve them in green initiatives.
“In their pursuit of sustainability, businesses in Asia-Pacific must ensure that their corporate goals are closely aligned with the goals of their employees. What we’ve learned is that a gap exists between the expectations of employees and the actions of employers on sustainable initiatives across the region. At JLL, our commitment to shaping the future of real estate for a better world aligns with our ability to use this actionable data and research to more effectively advise our clients on meeting the growing sustainability demands of employees,” said Anthony Couse, Chief Executive Officer, APAC, JLL.
With employees passionate about sustainability and eager to contribute, businesses can boost engagement by involving workers in their sustainability agenda, JLL concludes. Six in 10 employees believe that sustainability is a key factor for engaging the workforce, meaning that business leaders must create opportunities for employees to participate in corporate sustainability efforts.
Roddy Allan, Chief Research Officer, JLL Asia Pacific, commented, “Real estate plays a crucial role in laying out the pathway to a sustainable future, as office and residential buildings are instrumental in reducing carbon emissions. Increasingly we will see businesses investing in sustainable real estate or leasing office spaces in green buildings as part of their sustainability strategy, which will ultimately improve employee engagement and retention.”
JLL’s “Sustainability in the built environment: An employee perspective” report was based on an online study of 1,200 employees across the Asia-Pacific region, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Mainland China, India and Australia. Respondents were aged between 21 and 45 years old and represented a range of industries including technology (15%); manufacturing (14%); banking, financial services and insurance (11%); life sciences (7%); consumer goods (7%); and the public sector (7%).
For more information on JLL’s sustainability goals, click here.