Promotion and actions on Sustainable Development Goals

Our actions on Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities

Goal target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services, and upgrade slums.

• We aim to create a strong sense of community and increase the safety and comfort of our projects through various living services. For example, in 2019, we launched a cooperation with a car-sharing company in Poland and developed the Smartti Mokotów co-living project, where the residents are able to use extensive shared facilities to work and exercise.
• We take the initiative to create area development visions particularly to support the development of different city districts and areas. We want to enable a safe, sustainable and comfortable life for as many people as possible. For example, in 2019, we carried out an area development plan for Turku’s Pansio district.

Goal target 11.2 By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.

• We build eco-friendly public transport solutions, which promotes sustainable life in sustainable cities. Public transport provides an alternative to the use of private cars and reduces transport emissions. For example, in 2019, we started the construction of the Jokeri Light Rail project and continued the construction of two Länsimetro stations and the Tampere Light Rail.

Goal target 11.6: By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality, municipal and other waste management.

• Through our choices and actions, we can significantly influence the extent to which cities, their residents and companies support sustainable development. We support low-emission lifestyles for our customers; for example, by enabling the carbon neutrality of buildings during use. We also strive to reduce the emissions generated by our own operations.
• Dense urban development and, among other things, the proximity of daily consumer goods retail services and public transport to our residential properties help reduce the emissions of the people who live in our residences. We monitor the development of these performance indicators in our self-developed projects.
• We provide renovation services to extend the life cycle of existing buildings.

Goal target 11.7: By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, particularly for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

• To celebrate the centenary of Finland’s independence, we developed a yard concept for creating functional and comfortable yards. Created in cooperation with external stakeholders, the yard concept is built around three functionalities: quiet, social and active. We want to incorporate nature into the lives of our customers.
• We cater for the needs of special groups in our projects. Tripla, for example, is a pioneer in accessibility. In practice, accessibility is reflected in Tripla's color coding and contrast contrast, as well as lighting, fingertip guidance, white stick floor guides, induction loops, plain-language maps, and completely designed accessibility.

Our actions on Goal 13: Climate action

Goal target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning.

• We began CO2 calculations in 2019 to determine the carbon footprint of our projects. The calculation processes are aimed at increasing our understanding and developing solutions for reducing the carbon footprint.  We will report the site-specific carbon dioxide emissions of our self-developed projects starting from 2020.
• The development of renewable energy services supports the reduction of the carbon footprint. We are also developing other life cycle services for buildings with the aim of influencing their life cycle emissions.
• We provide renovation services to extend the life cycle of existing buildings. In addition, we carry out conversion projects where we change the purpose of the old building and enliven the existing area. For example, YIT's conversion project is under way in Keilaniemi area, where old office properties will be renovated for both residential and commercial use.
• We aim to transition towards using renewable energy sources. For example, in 2019, we piloted the use of natural gas and renewable diesel at our construction sites.

Our actions on Goal 13: Decent work and economic growth

Goal target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.

• We have a large indirect employment effect globally, and ensuring fair work for everyone is a challenge that we must increasingly focus on. In 2019, we conducted human rights and responsible procurement surveys and identified our key development areas based on the results. The results of the surveys provide the foundation for our development efforts in 2020.

Goal target 8.8: Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment.

• We continuously develop our occupational safety and health activities. For example, in 2019, we implemented a real-time occupational safety measurement and observation tool. We also organised several Work Safety Challenge workshops focused on developing new methods of improving occupational safety at every level of the organisation.
• We want to support young people in the transition to working life. In 2019, for example, we employed nearly 900 trainees in various positions throughout the Group.
• We look after the well-being of our personnel. We conduct an annual Group-wide Voice survey to assess the occupational well-being and job satisfaction of our personnel. We also provide comprehensive benefits to our employees and organise a wide range of training activities.
• We provide our employees with the freedom to unionise. In 2019, over 80% of our personnel were covered by various collective agreements.