Sustainability and ESG

Our corporate operations have been certified Climate Active carbon neutral at the organisational level (excluding project investments) since 2020. We continue to seek to identify and progress opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our corporate activities.  

We are members of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council, a member-based, purpose-led organisation working to enable sustainability outcomes in infrastructure. 

We also hold a longstanding relationship with the Green Building Council Australia through our subsidiary, Plenary Conventions Pty Ltd. Several of the building projects in Plenary’s portfolio hold Green Star ratings. 

In our existing projects, on a project-by-project basis, we work with project stakeholders to identify and advance initiatives for emissions reduction and improvements in environmental performance, subject to investment and contractual constraints.  

In new projects, we are committed to setting environmental targets and ratings aimed at environmental risk management, decarbonisation and biodiversity protection.   

We are committed to diversity and inclusion, and gender equality, in our corporate operations. This commitment includes measuring key diversity and inclusion metrics and action planning to drive ongoing improvement. More information about our approach to these important topics can be found here.  

Our Australian business is firmly committed to ongoing Reconciliation Action, and has formally joined the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) program following the endorsement of our inaugural RAP by Reconciliation Australia.

Plenary 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.

In respect of our projects, we work with relevant stakeholders on a project-by-project basis to set social targets, including in relation to diversity and inclusion and local participation.   

We focus on effective governance of sustainability-related issues throughout the project lifecycle. More information on our approach to governance is set out in our ESG & Responsible Investment Policy. 

In addition to project-specific reporting on ESG issues, we report against the United Nations 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 – in our case, sustainable infrastructure investment – to enhance returns and better manage risks and, by implementing them, signatories contribute to developing a more sustainable global financial system. 

Our first public Transparency Report will be published this year.   

We are also a participant in the UN Global Compact, and we are committed to aligning strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and taking actions that advance societal goals.  

Advocacy

We contribute to the infrastructure industry in Australia 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, Global Infrastructure Investor Association and the Australia UAE Business Council.

In the region we are members of Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, Property Council of Australia, Property Industry Foundation, Committee for Sydney, Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue, Business Western Sydney, Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, Committee for Melbourne, G21 Geelong Region Alliance, Infrastructure Association of Queensland and Infrastructure New Zealand.

Local partnerships

As part of our focus on ensuring our projects offer long-term economic, social and environmental dividends to the communities in which they operate, we regularly pursue local sponsorship and fundraising opportunities.   

Some examples of this include 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. 

These partnerships are linked to Plenary’s projects in the west – the $1.8 billion Western Roads Upgrade and the $1.5 billion New Footscray Hospital.

Giving back

We value the opportunity to give back and provide support to charities and not-for-profit causes.

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 $90,000 towards PIF and its initiatives since 2019. This includes participating in the Tour de PIF cycling and running events, and staff volunteering their time at Hard Hat Days to help build, fit out and maintain youth accommodation.
• Throughout 2023, Plenary and its staff contributed more than $300,000 to charity and non-profit causes. This includes more than $25,000 for the Rotary Australia Benevolent Society, more than $13,000 for social enterprise Bandu and more than $6,000 for the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency.
• In 2022, Plenary and its staff raised  more than $12,000 for the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency and close to $9,000 for the Royal Hospital for Women maternal fetal medicine department in Randwick, New South Wales
• 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 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.