Climate Change Data

REA Group Ltd

Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2019, 2020-07 to 2021-06, 2021-07 to 2022-06, 2022-07 to 2023-06)

Reporting Period: 2019

Environmental Metrics

Total Energy Consumption:1,330,684 kWh/year
Waste Generated:44.13 tons/year (Melbourne office)

ESG Focus Areas

  • Ethics and integrity
  • Diversity and inclusion
  • Data protection, privacy and cyber security

Environmental Achievements

  • Reduced CO2 emissions from air travel by 463,154 lbs year-on-year.

Social Achievements

  • Women in Tech program increased gender diversity ratio in technology roles from 20.4% to 29.9%.

Governance Achievements

  • Expanded anti-corruption training for all employees in Australia and Asia (planned for FY20).

Climate Goals & Targets

Medium-term Goals:
  • Halve data center footprint by end of FY20; reduce to zero in the near future.
Short-term Goals:
  • Reduce CO2 emissions from flights by 10% in FY20.
  • Maintain FY19 kWh energy usage in FY20.
  • Reduce general waste for Melbourne office by 5% per employee in FY20.

Environmental Challenges

  • Reducing environmental impact from business travel, building operations, and data centers.
  • Managing risks from cyber threats.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Implemented cloud-based video conferencing to reduce air travel.
  • Dedicated Cyber Security team proactively monitors systems for vulnerabilities.
  • Extensive employee and customer cyber risk awareness education.

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Supplier Code of Conduct requiring compliance with laws related to workers' rights, human rights, anti-bribery, anti-corruption, privacy, health and safety, and environmental considerations.

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI

Awards & Recognition

  • #TechDiversity Media Award

Reporting Period: 2020-07 to 2021-06

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:6331 tCO2e/year
Scope 1 Emissions:5.9 tCO2e/year
Scope 2 Emissions:1186.7 tCO2e/year
Scope 3 Emissions:5137.8 tCO2e/year
Waste Generated:203.96 cubic meters/year (Melbourne office)

ESG Focus Areas

  • Ethics and integrity
  • Data protection, privacy and cyber security
  • Product quality and safety
  • Innovation
  • Diversity and inclusion
  • Health, safety and wellbeing
  • Employee engagement
  • Customer satisfaction

Environmental Achievements

  • Achieved Carbon Neutral certification from the Australian Government’s Climate Active program. FY21 carbon footprint was 6,331 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), a 3% reduction on FY20 (excluding REA India, a 20% reduction was achieved).

Social Achievements

  • Launched the realestate.com.au Property Panel to formalise customer collaboration, resulting in the highest ever customer sentiment rating in FY21.
  • Expanded wellbeing program with a wellness profiler questionnaire, mental health first aiders, and a virtual wellness menu, leading to 84% global employee engagement (94% participation).

Governance Achievements

  • Increased cyber security team resourcing by 40% and attained ISO27001 certification for the financial services business.
  • Introduced customised privacy training for teams within Customer Product & Experience, Data Services and PropTrack.

Climate Goals & Targets

Medium-term Goals:
  • Achieve 42% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.
  • Achieve 25% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2030.
Short-term Goals:
  • Resolve issues identified in the Workplace Health & Safety audit (FY22).

Environmental Challenges

  • Supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic.
  • Increased emissions from cloud storage and employees working from home due to COVID-19.
  • Slow uptake of the new Rent platform.
  • Maintaining gender diversity targets in Australia.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Developed alternative sourcing strategies and implemented a modern slavery risk assessment.
  • Established a carbon emissions reduction plan to achieve science-based targets by 2030.
  • Created a new Customer Success team and revised sales and go-to-market practices for the Rent platform.
  • Employed a full-time Diversity & Inclusion Specialist – Technology to evolve the Women in Tech strategy.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 45 Due Diligence questionnaires undertaken in FY21

Responsible Procurement
  • Supplier Code of Conduct
  • Request for Proposal process including company values and community investment
  • 30-day payment terms with flexibility for smaller businesses
  • Ethical Sourcing and Supply training for Procurement team

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI

Certifications: Climate Active (Carbon Neutral), ISO27001 (Financial Services)

Third-party Assurance: KPMG (Limited Assurance)

Reporting Period: 2021-07 to 2022-06

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:7674.11 tCO2e/year
Scope 1 Emissions:23.02 tCO2e/year
Scope 2 Emissions:578.72 tCO2e/year
Scope 3 Emissions:7072.37 tCO2e/year

ESG Focus Areas

  • Responsible and ethical business practices
  • Data privacy and cyber security
  • Experience and satisfaction (customer & consumer)
  • Talent attraction and retention
  • Housing affordability advocacy and industry leadership
  • Product quality and service
  • Innovation and technology
  • Culture and values
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Risk and resilience
  • Climate change

Environmental Achievements

  • Moved to a GreenPower accredited renewable energy provider, Green Energy, across most REA locations in Australia.
  • Installed solar panels at Church Street Richmond headquarters.
  • Replacing all lights in Church Street with LED lighting.
  • 50% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Social Achievements

  • Achieved MSCI ESG rating of AA.
  • Named Australia’s fourth Best Workplace for 2022 by Great Place to Work.
  • REA India ranked 21st among India’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.
  • Named an Inclusive Employer 2021–2022 by Diversity Council Australia.
  • Launched a new wellbeing platform ‘Prosper’ for property managers.
  • Acknowledged seven years of partnership with Launch Housing, providing financial assistance to more than 5,286 women and children.

Governance Achievements

  • Undertook a gap analysis to establish a roadmap in response to the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
  • Expanded the remit of the Executive Risk Committee (ERC) to include climate-related risks and opportunities.
  • Updated onboarding training and launched ‘Living by our Code’ annual refresher training.

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Net-zero emissions (target year not specified).
Medium-term Goals:
  • Achieve 42% reduction on 2020 carbon footprint by 2030.
Short-term Goals:
  • Maintain MSCI ESG AA rating in FY23.

Environmental Challenges

  • Increased carbon footprint (21% increase) due to headcount increase and acquisitions.
  • Retention issues within Customer Operations teams.
  • Cyber security threats, including ransomware and supply chain risks.
  • Maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace, particularly in technology roles.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Implementing carbon emission reduction plan, including renewable energy transition and solar panel installation.
  • Partnering with ASRC and Work 180 to support women returning from parental leave and those seeking flexible roles.
  • Increased investment in cyber security, including a dedicated Cyber Defence Team and enhanced endpoint security.
  • Implementing Diversity and Inclusion Index, creating a Women in Tech Gender Representation Dashboard, and launching the Springboard Program.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: All suppliers assessed against four risk categories using OneTrust.

Responsible Procurement
  • Supplier due diligence tool (One Trust)
  • Supplier Code of Conduct

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI Standards: Core option

Certifications: Climate Active carbon neutral certification (FY20, FY21, pending FY22), PropTrack ISO 27001

Third-party Assurance: KPMG

Sustainable Products & Innovation

  • New realestate.com.au rental applications product with enhanced security features.

Awards & Recognition

  • MSCI ESG rating of AA
  • Great Place to Work ranking
  • Inclusive Employer 2021-2022
  • Talent Acquisition Team of the Year
  • HR Distinction Awards (REA India)
  • CMO50 (Melina Cruickshank)
  • IABC Gold Quill Award

Reporting Period: 2022-07 to 2023-06

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:9,015.4 tCO2e/year
Scope 1 Emissions:617.1 tCO2e/year
Scope 2 Emissions:0 tCO2e/year
Scope 3 Emissions:8,398.3 tCO2e/year

ESG Focus Areas

  • Responsible and ethical business practices
  • Data privacy and cyber security
  • Experience and satisfaction (customer & consumer)
  • Talent attraction and retention
  • Housing affordability advocacy and industry leadership
  • Product quality and service
  • Innovation and technology
  • Culture and values
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion
  • Risk and resilience
  • Climate Risk

Environmental Achievements

  • Reduced REA Australia’s electricity emissions by 64% annually through GreenPower.
  • Targeting net zero emissions across scope 1, 2 and 3 by 2050.

Social Achievements

  • REA Australia’s Women in Technology gender representation reached 31.6%.
  • REA India increased female representation in Product, Design & Technology to 20.3% from 15%.
  • Invested almost $2 million in the community.
  • Established the Mortgage Choice Foundation.
  • Expanded Prosper wellbeing platform to the entire property industry.
  • Volunteer leave increased 169% annually.

Governance Achievements

  • Delivered a material security maturity uplift in Mortgage Choice.
  • Established an Enterprise Privacy Program and introduced dedicated privacy squads.
  • Introduced a Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) forum.
  • Embedded OneTrust supplier due diligence tool.

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Net zero emissions across scope 1, 2 and 3 by 2050.
Medium-term Goals:
  • Reduce scope 1 & 2 emissions by 42% (aligned to a 1.5°C world) from a FY20 baseline.
  • Reduce scope 3 emissions by 25% (aligned to a well-below 2°C world) from a FY20 baseline.
Short-term Goals:
  • In-depth analysis of prioritised climate-related physical and transition risks and opportunities.
  • Explore climate change related opportunities and potential for integration into existing strategies.
  • Continue priority emission reduction initiatives.

Environmental Challenges

  • Increase in REA’s overall carbon footprint (21.3% since FY22).
  • Increase in Scope 3 emissions due to increased business travel, reassessment of emissions boundary, and improved data quality.
  • Lack of property price availability and accuracy on listings.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Focus on understanding renewable energy offerings for REA India operations.
  • Roadmap to transition tenancy electricity to renewables.
  • Implementing a Carbon Footprint Backstage Plugin to reduce cloud usage impacts.
  • Exploring and testing initiatives to improve property price transparency (e.g., filters for properties with listed prices).
  • Prioritising industry education to foster accurate and transparent pricing expectations.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 294 new supplier requests since August 2022, with due diligence completed on 78.

Responsible Procurement
  • REA Group’s Supplier Code of Conduct
  • OneTrust supplier due diligence tool
  • Partnership with Supply Nation to identify indigenous suppliers.

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Bushfire impact to employees and consumers
  • Extreme temperatures impact to REA’s offices and data centres
Transition Risks
  • Carbon pricing
Opportunities
  • Changing sustainability consumer preferences
  • Changing net zero building policies and technologies

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI Standards 2021

Certifications: Climate Active carbon neutral (FY22 emissions), ISO 27001 (PropTrack business), SOC2 Type 2 (selection of products)

Third-party Assurance: KPMG Limited Assurance

UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
  • SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 13: Climate Action

Alignment detailed in the report.

Sustainable Products & Innovation

  • PropTrack digital valuation solutions (reducing need for physical property inspections).

Awards & Recognition

  • FTSE4Good Developed Index
  • MSCI ESG Rating AA ‘Leader’
  • Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for Australia and Asia
  • Australian Investor Relations Awards (top three for ‘Best ESG / Sustainability Reporting’)
  • Great Place to Work (top five ranking in Australia)
  • REA India ranked third among India’s Best Workplaces
  • Australian Association of Graduate Employers Top Graduate employer
  • Diversity Council of Australia ‘Inclusive Employer’
  • Mortgage Choice won Aggregator of the Year
  • Mortgage Choice named Australia’s #1 brokerage
  • AHRA Excellence Awardee Shortlist Best Graduate Development Program
  • Climate Active Carbon neutral certified organisation
  • HRD 5-Star employer of choice
  • REA India won two accolades at the 2023 HR Distinction Awards