One of London’s most iconic sites, the Piccadilly Lights, played host to Race to Zero’s One Year Anniversary video. It’s a video that celebrates the progress and continued momentum of the world’s largest alliance of non-state actors credibly committed to halving emissions by 2030.

The Lights have been one the capital city’s most striking features for over a century – advertising some of the world’s biggest names and brands. The Climate Champions are therefore proud and honoured to see our campaign in lights, showing the world that the race to a cleaner, tastier, healthier and safer world is truly on!

Managed by the UK’s largest commercial property development and investment company, Landsec, the site is visible to 100 million people who pass through Piccadilly Circus every year.

But it’s not just its stellar iconicism that the Climate Champions are excited about. As a member of Race to Zero, Landsec embodies the vision of a net zero world. Over the course of the next decade, the company is on course to reduce its absolute carbon emissions by 70% from a 2013/14 baseline.

Landsec, which manages a portfolio of £10.8 billion, covering 23.5 million sq ft, in 2016 became the first commercial real estate company in the world to have its carbon emission target approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative, and in 2019 it aligned its targets to a 1.5oC scenario. As a result, this year it has already reduced its carbon emissions by 42%.

To become a net zero carbon business Landsec is following five actions, that include:

• Reducing operational energy use in support of its updated science-based carbon reduction target, aligned with a 1.5°C scenario
• Investing in renewable energy through is Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO)-backed contracts and Power Purchase Agreement, as well as implementing on-site renewables across its assets
• Using an internal shadow price of carbon to clearly communicate climate-related risks and opportunities in investment decisions
• Reducing construction impacts through asset retention, efficient design and responsible sharing
• Offsetting the remaining emissions through carefully selected projects which actively take carbon out of the atmosphere.

To find out more about Landsec’s progress in the Race to Zero, please go to: Net Zero Carbon Pathways document.