Forest City Continues Corporate Responsibility Transparency with First GRI G4 Report and GRESB Green Star Designation

Dec 19, 2016 9:05 AM ET
Forest City recently issued its fourth corporate responsibility report.

December 19, 2016 /3BL Media/ - Forest City Realty Trust, Inc., (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB) announced the official release of the company’s latest corporate responsibility report – its fourth overall and first to be published in accordance with guidelines from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a leading corporate sustainability reporting organization.

In addition, Forest City has achieved the “Green Star” designation from the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), a leading sustainability standard for the real estate industry. The company earned GRESB’s highest designation in its second year of participating in the annual survey and finished in the top 25 percent of participants.

“Our shared commitment to corporate responsibility is rooted in our core values and brought to life by our talented associates,” said David LaRue, Forest City president and chief executive officer. “Our focus on continuous improvement is reflected in our efforts to align with industry-leading benchmarking programs and work with our stakeholders to prioritize and report on the issues they value most.”

Titled “Built on Purpose,” Forest City’s corporate responsibility report includes updates on the company’s strategic management of environmental, social, economic and governance matters, in accordance with GRI’s G4 Core option guidelines. The report details the company’s focus on expanding stakeholder engagement as it continues to develop, own and manage commercial and residential real estate, including dynamic mixed-use communities in core urban markets.

The company’s notable achievements in 2015 included achieving significant reductions in energy consumption (9.8 percent) and water consumption (5.3 percent) across the company’s comparable portfolio.

Additional highlights include:

  • Completing a materiality assessment to identify and prioritize the most important corporate responsibility topics. Through the research, recommendations for management of topics were drafted, and internal stakeholders identified business opportunities and topic alignment with the company’s strategic plan.
  • Focusing philanthropic efforts in areas such as economic development, workforce preparedness, educational attainment and diversity and inclusion to better align with the business.
  • Enhancing internal stakeholder engagement and corporate responsibility strategy by reporting related activities and progress directly to the Office of the CEO.
  • Implementing a comprehensive change sponsor and change-management communications program to keep associates apprised of major updates and provide an avenue for associate feedback during the real estate investment trust (REIT) transition and organizational restructuring.

To learn more, you can read the full corporate responsibility report and analyst summary, please visit www.forestcity.net