HIW Corporate Resiliency Report 2021 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 11
ESG STRATEGY
As a publicly traded REIT, we are firmly committed to
our societal responsibility to minimize environmental
impacts resulting from the development and operation
of our properties. We strive to create resilient, healthy
and adaptable workplaces that anticipate the changing
societal needs of our stakeholders and promote health
and well-being. Championed by strong governance
and top-down support, we believe these efforts lay the
groundwork for our continued responsible growth and
financial success.
To ensure that we are focusing our energy and resources
on ESG initiatives that drive enterprise value and enable
us to build and grow a resilient and enduring business,
we have aligned our ESG framework with best practices
and leading global standards, including:
• UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
• UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC)
• Taskforce on Climate-related Financial
Disclosure (TCFD)
• Global Real Estate Sustainability
Benchmark (GRESB)
Leveraging these standards provides global context
and ensures our ESG strategy is responsive to changing
market conditions, global initiatives and the needs and
desires of our stakeholders.
9.2M
$
INVESTED IN
SUSTAINABILITYRELATED PROJECTS
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ENERGY STAR
CERTIFICATIONS
In 2021, we continued to demonstrate progress
towards our long-term energy, emissions and water
reduction goals. We expanded our ESG policies and
formalized our enterprise-wide ESG Strategy that is
integrated into our Strategic Plan and all aspects of our
business operations. This led to Newsweek recognizing
Highwoods as one of the most responsible companies
in America. We established a Diversity & Inclusion (D&I)
Group to advance D&I initiatives in our workforce,
industry and our communities. We performed a
Materiality Assessment to identify ESG topics and focus
areas that have a material impact on our business, and
we began the process of ensuring our alignment with
the recommendations of the Task Force on ClimateRelated Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
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POLICIES REFINED
AND IMPLEMENTED
72
NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATIONS
SUPPORTED
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