Sustainability and ESG

We’re continually looking for ways to reduce the level of energy usage, cut carbon emissions, increase recycling and reduce waste in our offices and projects.

Our Asia Pacific business is a certified carbon neutral organisation following certification of our 2020 operations against the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard - one of the most rigorous carbon neutral certification and reporting processes in the world.

In Australia we have been a member of the Green Building Council Australia for more than 15 years and we aim to achieve GBCA's Green Star rating in all of our projects.

We also use 100% recycled paper in our offices.

In North America we implement the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and seek certification for all of our projects, resulting in sustainable infrastructure that our communities can be proud of for decades to come.

View our project environmental goals.

FUNDRAISING AND MATCHING CHARITABLE DONATIONS

We regularly pursue sponsorship and fundraising opportunities to support the communities in which our infrastructure exists.

In Australia we proudly match every dollar our Australian employees make in sanctioned donations to charity.

This has seen the Australian business and its employees donate more than $1 million to non-profit causes over recent years

• We are a multi-year national partner of Property Industry Foundation, which partners with respected charities to build safe environments and support charity-managed initiatives for homeless youth. Plenary has contributed more than $60,000 towards PIF initiatives since 2019 including participating in the Tour de PIF cycling/running events in Sydney and Melbourne and staff regularly volunteer their time to Hard Hat Days to help build, fit out and maintain youth accommodation.

• In 2022, Plenary and its staff raised close to $9,000 for the Royal Hospital for Women maternal fetal medicine department in Randwick, New South Wales, and more than $7,000 for the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency.

• In 2021, Chief Executive David Lamming raised more than $28,000 as part of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout, raising money to help the thousands of Australians who are experiencing homelessness and people at risk of homelessness.

• Throughout 2020, we donated more than $100,000 to bushfire emergency response organisations such as the NSW Rural Fire Service, the Victorian Bushfire Appeal, the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery, and the Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service Emergency Fund.

• In 2017, we raised more than $5,000 for SurfAid – a non-profit improving the health, wellbeing and self-reliance of remote Indonesian communities. 

• In 2016, we raised more than $90,000 for Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, to mark the successful completion of its new home within the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

• In honour of the late James Cox, a founding director of Plenary, since 2010 we have awarded the James Cox PhD Scholarship, an annual scholarship to PhD students of Monash University's Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, providing tuition fees, a living allowance, and provision for international research or placement.

We also proudly support the communities in which our projects exist, such as the three 23-year partnerships established as part of the Western Roads Upgrade project, partnering with Western Health to improve health outcomes, partnering with the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation to support migrants and refugees (pictured), and partnering with Western Chances to help it continue to support talented young people.

Over the past five years, we have donated more than $1 million to the North American communities in which we operate. We are proud to be supporting some exceptional organizations, including

• Covenant House - For more than four decades, Covenant House has helped transform and save the lives of more than a million homeless, runaway and trafficked young people across North America. Plenary is an annual donor to Covenant House in our local communities.

• Taste of Soul Family Festival - Dubbed Los Angeles’ largest street festival, Taste of Soul is a free family event that takes place annually in October and attracts more than 350,000 attendees with its “soulful” food, live entertainment, local artisans and business displays. Plenary is proud to be celebrating African American culture at this outstanding event.

• Local Food Banks - The Greater Vancouver Food Bank and the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank provide access to healthy food, education and training to those in need. Plenary participates in annual giving and also in a volunteer program that sees up to 25 employees at a time taking shifts to sort food at the distribution warehouse.

A responsible investor

In Australia we are a signatory to the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment, the Principles for Responsible Investment.

Established in partnership with UNEP Finance Initiative and UN Global Compact, the PRI works to understand the investment implications of ESG factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions.

The principles encourage investors to use responsible investment to enhance returns and better manage risks and, by implementing them, signatories contribute to developing a more sustainable global financial system.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVITY

We are committed to creating a respectful environment that values and celebrates workplace diversity and inclusion.

Attracting, retaining and developing the best infrastructure industry professionals is vital to our future and we recognise that diversity and inclusion improve the performance of an organisation.

In Australia, we are contributing member of Diversity Council Australia.

• We are a recognised Inclusive Employer 2021-2022 in recognition of our benchmark-exceeding results for diversity and inclusion measures achieved in DCA’s 2021-2022 Inclusion@Work Index.

• Asia Pacific Chief Executive Officer David Lamming is a signatory of DCA's #IStandForRespect campaign, a pledge to stand against gendered harassment and violence in all forms.

• We are a multi-year supporter of the Not In My Workplace Respect@Work summit, advocating that leadership and culture are essential for safe and respectful workplaces.

We also track and report our performance in accordance with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, and publicly report to Workplace Gender Equality Agency annually.

See Diversity and inclusion for more details.

Our Australian business has formally joined the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) program following the endorsement of our inaugural RAP by Reconciliation Australia and is a platinum partner of Victorian Aboriginal chamber of commerce, Kinaway.

We are proud to embrace the need to raise awareness and understanding around reconciliation, and joining the RAP program represents a formalisation of a commitment to develop respectful relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, to foster respect for their cultures and communities, and to improve socioeconomic outcomes.

See Reconciliation for more details.

ENGAGING WITH GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY

We contribute to the infrastructure industry in Australia and North America by participating in policy debates and making submissions to state, provincial and federal government inquiries.

As part of our commitment to share best practices, we regularly attend, arrange, contribute to and sponsor industry conferences, task forces, project site tours, presentations, and feedback sessions with our current and prospective clients.

We are members of, and contribute to the work undertaken by, a host of key infrastructure and industry bodies.

Globally, we are members of IPFA and Global Infrastructure Investor Association.

In Australia we are members of Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Infrastructure Australia, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, Committee for Sydney, Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Committee for Melbourne, Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, Asia Pacific Real Estate Association, Property Council of Australia, Business Western Sydney and G21 Geelong Region Alliance.

We are a member of Infrastructure New Zealand.

In North America, we are members of such bodies as the Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure, the Performance Based Building Coalition, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, and the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships.