Culture Shift

Elsa Monteiro's Story

“I truly believe integrating sustainability within the business is required to guarantee the company long-term competitiveness. I also believe sustainability can become a new income stream to the organization.”
"We think sustainability is good for business and we want to fully commit. So, we always should be up to date in terms of trends, as well as very resilient because we must work against all the people who prioritize short-term gains.” 

How Elsa is Creating Sharing Creating & sharing Creating Shared  Value at Sonae Sierra

Elsa Monteiro is the Director of Sustainability at Sonae Sierra. She joined the company in 1995 with an ambition to champion change. Today, Elsa has built up Sonae Sierra to where they are now: an externally accountable company, at the forefront of sustainability. 

Sonae Sierra is an international real estate company focused on creating vibrant and sustainable urban spaces. With a strong presence across Europe, South America, North Africa, and Asia, Sonae Sierra specializes in the development, investment, and management of innovative shopping centers, mixed-use complexes, and real estate assets. Committed to environmental sustainability and social responsibility, the company combines decades of expertise with a forward-thinking approach, aiming to enhance communities and deliver high-quality experiences for visitors and tenants alike.

 

Sonae Sierra is part of the Sonae Group, a multinational company managing a diversified portfolio of businesses in retail, financial services, technology, real estate and telecommunications.

 

Sector: Real Estate

 

Employees: 970 as of 2023

 

Geography: Headquartered in Portugal, with operations globally

 

Website: www.sonaesierra.com

Challenges
faced

Elsa’s journey with sustainability at Sonae Sierra – an international real estate company – began in 1995, a time when the company looked very different, and sustainability was not a priority. Over the years, Elsa and her team faced numerous challenges in her mission to embed sustainability and initiate organizational change.

 

One major hurdle was getting the entire company on board, from investors to employees.

 

Investment partners often struggled to look beyond financial aspects to embrace the value of sustainability. Their focus on short-term financial results conflicted with the long-term benefits of sustainable actions.

The investment teams need external validation from either within the company or external consultants before making decisions. They are only focused on the short-term financial results without assessing how sustainability risks can have an impact on the financial results at medium, long-term" 
“In most cases, it requires either additional work or doing things in a different way, which is not always welcome.”

Elsa and her team also struggled to find a way to connect sustainability to the day-to-day work of Sierra’s teams, without it feeling like an additional burden.

 

Another key challenge was encouraging tenants to adopt sustainable practices. Sonae Sierra does not control the daily operations of the businesses in its buildings, many of which are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) not subject to the latest European sustainability regulations. Larger tenants tend to focus on reducing emissions of products across their supply chains rather than improving the energy efficiency of their individual shops. Additionally, short-term leasing contracts made tenants hesitant to invest in energy-efficient upgrades, as they couldn’t guarantee a long enough return on investment.

Actions
taken

Determined to overcome these hurdles, Elsa worked closely with her team to identify solutions.

 

Their first course of action was to secure buy-in from the top, presenting tangible results that showcased the positive outcomes of developing and managing buildings more sustainably. They also worked to quantify the benefits of sustainability in the medium to long term, highlighting the cost savings on operations, insurance and compliance – while enabling the company to have a competitive advantage. 

 

To internalize sustainability within the company culture, Elsa helped tie sustainability KPIs with renumeration, motivating employees to integrate sustainability into their roles and decision-making processes. She also formed a team of ambassadors within different units to help embed and action the various initiatives. 

 

 

“We think sustainability is good for business and we want to fully commit. So, we should always be up to date in terms of trends, as well as be very resilient because we must work against all the people who prioritize short-term gains.”
“So it’s measurable, people know what’s going on. One important thing was that we also include it in the individual KPIs.”

Elsa also initiated an extensive training programs for employees regarding sustainability. These programs include induction training for newcomers, generic sustainability training for all employees, and specific training for those in roles with higher responsibility for implementing sustainability across business units.

 

Besides training, Elsa and her team developed various awareness campaigns and communication strategies regarding sustainability. For several years, they held The Best Safety, Health, and Environmental Team Award, where property management teams showcased their implemented measures and results. The case studies submitted were shared with all employees, and the winning teams received public recognition and a remuneration bonus.

 

Elsa also built a revised engagement program for tenants, focusing on driving awareness and understanding of sustainability’s benefits. She and her team regularly communicated the importance and benefits of sustainability, highlighting potential cost savings and enhanced customer perception. They focused on the fit-out of each new tenant and convincing existing tenants of the business case for making improvements. By adopting a “create shared value” approach, Elsa aimed to align environmental and social impacts with business success, creating mutually beneficial outcomes.

Resonance
of impact

Through her efforts, Elsa has ensured that Sonae Sierra leads by example, bringing tenants and other stakeholders along this transformative journey, demonstrating that sustainability is not only achievable but also integral to long-term business success.

 

By positioning sustainability as a competitive advantage, she has fostered a culture where long-term sustainability benefits are prioritized alongside financial performance.

Thanks to their coordinated efforts, Sonae Sierra achieved an impressive 88% reduction in carbon intensity and a 67% reduction in electricity usage, thanks to the company’s comprehensive decarbonization roadmap. This included substantial upfront investments and the implementation of initiatives like Bright 2.0, an energy-efficiency program that leverages new technologies that identified an additional potential reduction of 33% in energy consumption through 150 new improvement opportunities across 22 buildings – leading to savings of approximately 45,510 MWh and 6.5 million euros annually.

Beyond environmental milestones, Elsa’s efforts have also cultivated a shared sense of purpose among employees and tenants, driving collective action toward shared sustainability goals. This increased awareness and engagement empowered individuals at all levels to contribute meaningfully to the company’s objectives, fostering a resilient and forward-thinking organizational culture.

 

The initiatives also bolstered Sonae Sierra’s reputation, with the company winning over 100 awards for sustainability, including the prestigious ICSC ReSource Award, the Green Thinker Award, and the Sustainable Energy Europe Award. This demonstrated commitment to sustainability has attracted institutional investors and new business partners, increased the attractiveness of Sonae Sierra’s buildings to tenants with public sustainability commitments, and improved access to financing from banks. In fact, Sonae Sierra became the first real estate company in Portugal to launch sustainability-linked bonds, further cementing its leadership in the field.

What Elsa found helpful during her ESG journey

  • WBCSD: support and up-to-date information on relevant sustainability trends.
  • SBTi: setting Scope 3 targets, accountability for scope 1 and 2 targets 

Relevant resources to Elsa's work

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