Standard Bank has joined the Growthpoint Properties renewable energy certification (REC) programme, the two groups announced on Monday. Under the REC programme, Standard Bank will be able to reduce its Scope 2 carbon emissions at 21 branches located in Growthpoint-owned offices and shopping malls in five provinces.

“We previously demonstrated energy efficiency in our branch operations through the Net Zero Carbon (Measured) certification of four bank branches, the first such certificates issued by the Green Building Council of South Africa for bank branches in the country,” highlighted Standard Bank Group real estate services sustainability & resilience head Keith Cassie. “For these certifications, the allocation of renewable energy was pivotal with energy efficiency standards compliance having been confirmed, and this created latitude for further collaboration between landlords and tenants with shared environmental goals.”

The branches concerned are Alberton City, Bayside Mall, Beacon Bay Retail Park, Brooklyn Mall, Festival Mall, Greenacres Shopping Centre, Hillcrest Corner, Howard Centre, Key West Shopping Centre, Lakeside Mall, La Lucia Mall, Longbeach Mall, Newlands on Main, N1 City Mall, Paarl Mall, River Square, Vaal Mall, Walmer Park Shopping Centre, Waterfall Mall, Westville Mall, and Woodmead Retail Park. These are spread across Gauteng, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Western Cape provinces.

Scope 2 emissions come from electricity that is purchased from the grid. They are, in the context of multi-tenanted leased properties, difficult to abate without the active help of the landlord.

“Transparent and certified emission offsets are urgently needed for tenants to address their carbon footprint,” pointed out Growthpoint Properties corporate advisory head Werner van Antwerpen. “Growthpoint is proud to support Standard Bank and our tenants in decarbonising their operations.”

Growthpoint’s REC programme certifies the renewable energy that is supplied to its properties, either by means of on-site solar PV installations or through electricity wheeling agreements with independent power producers. The RECs are independently verified and supplied to tenants, and can be audited. They are tracked by means of the blockchain-enabled Fuel Switch platform (its first application in Africa) and meet the International REC standard.

The Growthpoint REC programme has so far registered 53 renewable-energy systems, of which 50 are already active. A further 13 such systems are currently being onboarded.   

Standard Bank is targeting net-zero carbon emissions from its own operations by 2040, and from its portfolio of financed emissions by 2050. Growthpoint is targeting carbon neutrality across its commercial property portfolio by 2050.