ShopCore’s Corinne Rico on ESG Leaders + Governance
At qb., we know that creating effective ESG policies, protocols, and oversight requires hard work and behavioral change, which is why we're shining a spotlight on the individuals who are leading the charge. In our new series: “ESG Leaders + Governance”, we highlight the people behind the transformational actions and programs that are shaping the future of business. We’ll talk to ESG leaders from different industries and backgrounds, we'll delve into the challenges they've faced, the strategies they've employed, and the lessons they've learned along the way.
Corinne Rico, Senior Director of Sustainability at ShopCore Properties, sat down with qb. to share valuable insights on prioritizing and integrating ESG efforts, emphasizing the importance of celebrating the small wins, building a team of champions, and gathering the necessary data to inform decision-making.
published 5.18.23
Here’s what we learned:
You have to take joy in the small wins because there are so many other big things that can take a while to happen
Some projects can take years to complete, so it is essential to celebrate the smaller successes along the way. ESG professionals have a big task in front of them, and I think what can be frustrating to some is how long it can take to see results. For example, ShopCore currently has a number of solar projects in progress, but it will likely be another several months, at least, before we see solar panels actually installed at those sites. It can be difficult to demonstrate tangible progress to our ShopCore teammates. So, for Earth Month, we offered in-person employee workshops through our urban beekeeping program to allow our teammates to experience the impact of our work up-close. It only took a few hours of my time to coordinate, and everybody loved it. There is a bigger ripple effect that comes from these small projects — people are going to go home and talk to their family and friends about that experience, and that gets them excited about sustainability in the workplace.
It's really vital to make sure that you have a broad-based consensus on how things work from a process perspective and a prioritization perspective in order to be successful
Conducting a materiality assessment helped formalize and crystallize many projects and initiatives that we've been working on and trying to prioritize in the absence of any sort of formal consensus-gathering process. I feel like that was a key missing piece in the strategy of how we are approaching our work, because otherwise, it's sort of like you're running around with your hair on fire every day, not really knowing which issue is most important and which to tackle first. It really helped us prioritize ESG efforts in a way that captured broad stakeholder input.
To be able to make informed decisions — data is key
When you're first starting an ESG program, a lot of foundation building needs to happen — and data is key. You need to know where you're starting from and what you're starting with. The lowest barrier to entry is if you can leverage what you already have, like existing processes, systems, and frameworks; it is much easier to build on an existing foundation and then make incremental improvements over time. For example, if you have some sort of accounting system in place to pay utility bills, and you're trying to get data for greenhouse gas emissions, is there a way that you can add to the existing accounting process to extract the consumption data from those utility bills? It's essential to have the data when making a business case for ESG initiatives to demonstrate exactly how much impact those initiatives will have.
Go ahead — pick your low-hanging fruit.
It does depend on what kind of business you're in, but tackling your low-hanging fruit can be very impactful. On the E (Environmental) side, installing LED lighting, using drought-resistant landscaping, and implementing building automation systems are all low-hanging fruits that can have a significant impact on energy and water savings and overall ESG performance. Regarding the S (Social) aspect, convening a DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) committee and organizing volunteer events are relatively easy initiatives to implement. On the G (Governance) side, creating a sustainability section on the company website and establishing a sustainability email address for the organization are simple steps to take. Finally, communicate your ESG efforts and accomplishments to your company. Leverage a communication tool that already exists (like all company calls) and share updates to keep people engaged and in the loop.
Tenant collaboration is critical, and I believe that's where the commercial real estate industry is headed.
One of the most important issues we need to address is how to work effectively with our tenants to reduce our collective emissions. This is particularly challenging for us because most of our properties are open-air shopping centers with very little common area and few Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions relative to our overall footprint. Given the type of real estate we manage, most of our emissions are in Scope 3, which makes them both the most impactful and the most challenging to reduce. Currently, approximately 90% of our total emissions are out of ShopCore's control, meaning they're caused by our tenants. So, if we want to make progress, we need to work with them. By collaborating with our tenants and more accurately quantifying our Scope 3 emissions, we can set achievable targets and establish effective programs and initiatives to make progress towards our collective emissions reduction goals.
All those cheesy phrases — "Many hands make light work" and "It takes a village" — are true.
You can't be successful in this work operating in a vacuum — and you certainly can't do it without other people supporting you. There are many crossovers that I have with other ShopCore teams such as leasing, accounting, and property management; I can't be an expert in all of those areas. So, I have to be able to understand their motivations and challenges to craft solutions that will work for them, as well as for ESG. You have to meet people where they're at and put complicated and technical ESG issues in terms that they can understand and relate to their own work; aligning with what drives others’ work can help you be successful. You also need to build a network of champions within the company who support ESG initiatives. The more champions you can secure, the easier your task as an ESG professional becomes — because not only do you have people who support your work, but you also have people to help spread the workload.
If you know someone doing amazing✨ things in this space, who deserves to be spotlighted, drop us a line.
