SPR Seminar - Biodiversity
Consideration of the environmental impact of real estate is usually focussed on greenhouse gas emissions during construction and operations. However, another critical aspect is the impact of the built environment on biodiversity. Biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate and real estate is responsible for 30% of this loss.
Buildings play a critical role in shaping sustainable communities and lifestyles. As well as performance benefits, promoting biodiversity in real estate limits biodiversity loss and promotes the wellbeing of the occupiers and users of the building and the community within which it is located.
In this seminar we will explore the connection between biodiversity and real estate. Our expert panel will discuss the tangible steps investors can take to incorporate biodiversity and its cost, and explain why investors that align their strategies to accommodate new regulations will also enhance their asset financially, socially, and environmentally.
Chair
Alex Dunn, Research Manager, Cromwell Property Group
Panellists
Drew Davy, Sustainability Insights Manager, Grosvenor
Emily Hamilton, Head of ESG, Savills IM
Martyn Jarvis, Senior Associate, Planning and Environment, Herbert Smith Freehills
Richard Marshall, Co-Founder and CFO, Great Yellow
Drew Davy, Sustainability Insights Manager, Grosvenor
Drew is a Senior Sustainability Insights Manager at Grosvenor Property UK, a leading real estate and landowner in the UK. Drew leads on sustainability data provision across both environmental and social metrics, and also on their nature strategy. He has particular interest in nature metrics and reporting and has a background in biodiversity measurement.
Alex Dunn, Research Manager, Cromwell Property Group
Alex began work in the property industry in 2009 as an Analyst for MSCI, working closely with The Crown Estate, CBRE Investors and CCLA before moving into the Research side of the business. In 2015 he joined Cushman & Wakefield as head of UK Business Space Research, with a main focus on office performance throughout the UK, and in particular the draw of regional offices for London based occupiers. In 2017, Alex joined Gerald Eve as head of London office research, and regularly presented to investors, keeping them up to date on the London market and highlighting any future trends.
At Cromwell Property Group, Alex works alongside the portfolio and asset manages within the business to help bring clarity to the European markets. Alex has had a number of articles published on a variety of real estate topics, from the future of offices to the impact of blockchain on the logistics sector.
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Emily Hamilton, Head of ESG, Savills IM
Emily is Head of ESG for Savills IM and has spent the past 16 years working in ESG with a focus on advising and promoting sustainability within the residential and commercial real estate sectors, including masterplanning. Since joining Savills IM, she has grown the ESG team to 8 people and is a member of the Investment Committee and Global Responsible Investment Committee. Emily was appointed to the INREV ESG Committee in December 2022 and co-chairs the Better Building Partnership Owner/Occupier Forum and ESG Training Working Groups. She is an ULI Sustainable Development Council member and a Fellow of the Institute for Environmental Management. She also recently joined the IEMA Natural Capital and Biodiversity Steering Group. Emily holds an MSc. in Environment, Science and Society from University College London.
Prior to working at Savills IM, Emily spent 7 years at Grosvenor Property UK and led their sustainability integration efforts. She has also worked in Higher Education and consultancy on projects including infrastructure planning, socio-economic impact assessment, sustainability statements and sustainability training.
Martyn Jarvis, Senior Associate, Herbert Smith Freehills
Martyn is a Senior Associate at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP where he advises on commercial and development projects within the South East of England and on nationally significant infrastructure projects. Most recently Martyn has advised on British Land on all planning and consents related aspects of the Canada Water Masterplan in the London Borough of Southwark, and he is advising LandSec U+I on their proposals for a significant residential led mixed use development at North East Cambridge. Martyn is also currently advising Gatwick Airport on its northern runway expansion proposals and AQUIND Limited on its proposals for the AQUIND Interconnector, a £1.1 billion electricity interconnector between the UK and France.
Martyn has led the HSF team on the proposals for BNG, including on internal education and external publications as well as advising clients on the scope and impact of the changes. In this role Martyn was an active participant to the BPF's response to the proposals and has also assisted clients with considering digital platforms to provide solutions to the administrative requirements of BNG and the need to streamline this, as well as to identify opportunities which the mandatory BNG requirements create.
Richard Marshall, Co-Founder and CFO, Great Yellow
Richard is CFO of Great Yellow, a recent start up which is bridging the financial/legal gap between landowners running nature recovery programmes, and the corporate and financial institutional buyers and investors for nature based solutions. Before moving into sustainability finance, Richard had a 30-year career in senior finance roles with major blue chip businesses across a range of sectors, including chemicals, process industries, energy, and real estate. More recently, during 2023 he was Interim CFO with the Woodland Trust and also worked with the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership to author a joint CISL/A4S report on the broadening horizon for the roles of CFOs and their Finance functions and their increasing role in helping to drive corporate sustainability.