FROM OUR CHAIRMAN

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL & GOVERNANCE (“ESG”)

Our Board and senior management hold ESG among our top priorities… and we are a clear leader in the industry. In 2019, we published our commitment to making our buildings carbon neutral by 2030. Our six-point plan, known as Vision 2030, is outlined in our ESG Report, found at esg.vno.com.

Key sustainability achievements this past year include:

  • Advanced our commitment to locally-sourced renewable energy and the environment through the procurement of Renewable Energy Credits, sourced from hydro energy facilities located in the State of New York, which assigns zero carbon to 100% of our directly procured electricity. With an annualized balance of over 215,000 megawatt hours, we are one of the largest customers of home-grown renewable energy. We support the transmission projects that will alleviate bottlenecks and bring clean energy downstate into New York City.
  • Aligned our carbon reductions and targets with the Science-Based Target Initiative, and have committed to a 64% reduction by 2030 using a 2019 base year to ensure our ongoing emissions reduction contributes to a 1.5-degree climate scenario.
  • Achieved a 2.6% reduction in our overall location-based emissions, and a 37.8% drop in our market-based scope 2 emissions. Below is an inventory of carbon emissions from our buildings in 2021, according to the Financial Control method1 measured in metric tons:

  • Received multiple awards recognizing our continued industry leadership in sustainability including the NAREIT Leader in the Light Leadership Personified Award; ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year with Sustained Excellence (7th time with this distinction); and Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark “Green Star” Ranking (9th year in a row; ranking #2 out of 94 publicly traded companies in the Americas, with an “A” grade for our public disclosure).
  • Expanded our climate scenario analysis as recommended by the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures and have updated our disclosures (which are paired with third party assurance) according to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and the Global Reporting Initiative.

Altogether, we own and operate more than 27 million square feet of LEED certified buildings, representing 95% of our office portfolio, with over 23 million square feet at LEED Gold or Platinum. Thanks to our sustainability and energy management captains Gaston Silva, Karen Oh, Robert Phinney, and Michael Lipitz.

In addition, we have provided our employees with the resources, support, and flexibility needed through the pandemic. We enhance our human capital by sponsoring continuing education and career development. We have actively engaged with our workforce and solicit their feedback through our divisional leaders and employee surveys.

Our Board, and particularly our Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, is assigned with oversight of ESG, which includes climate change risk. Our 2022 Long Term Performance Plan incorporates ESG performance metrics as part of our Senior Management compensation program. A discussion regarding our corporate governance is included in our proxy statement, which can be viewed at www.vno.com/proxy and the governance section of our website at www.vno.com/governance.

Steven Roth
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

1 We have chosen to report our emissions according to the financial control method, as discussed in the World Resource Institute’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard: Revised Edition. Location-Based reflects emissions for our properties based on the grid average emission factor, while Market-Based reflects emissions that we are responsible for due to our purchasing decisions. Our Scope 1 emissions include onsite combustion from oil and natural gas; Scope 2 emissions include our district steam consumption and electricity consumption, including electricity consumed by our submetered tenants; Scope 3 emissions include other utility consumption within the direct control of our tenants.