To:
Company Announcements
Date:
06 September 2021
Company:
Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust Limited
LEI:
549300HHFBWZRKC7RW84
Acquisition of
land as part of carbon strategy
Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust (SLIPIT) is
pleased to announce the acquisition of land that will be used as
part of the Company’s carbon strategy.
The 1,447 hectares of upland rough grazing and open moorland in
the Cairngorm national park has been purchased for £7.5m. The site
supports 956 hectares for planting with natural broadleaf trees
(about 1.5m trees in total) with
approximately 115 hectares for peatland restoration, with the
remainder open land to support bio diverse habitats. The site is
expected to sequester approximately 195,630 tonnes of carbon up
until 2060, representing 73% of the Company’s residual embedded and
operational carbon.
SLIPIT takes ESG very seriously, and believes that strong ESG
credentials will be a driver of performance, as well as an agent
for good. The Company is not investing in commercial forestry, but
is acquiring a gold standard carbon offset at a fixed price. The
purchase forms part of a wider strategy to achieve carbon net zero,
based primarily on reducing operational carbon at the investment
property assets with offsets for residual carbon that cannot be
eliminated. It is anticipated that the costs of planting will be
met through grant funding.
Jason Baggaley, fund manager of
SLIPIT, commented “SLIPIT has acquired this significant opportunity
for reforestation as part of its carbon strategy. We believe that
being an early mover will give the Company an important advantage
in future costs for offsetting as society moves to net zero by
2050. We anticipate making a couple of further acquisitions, on a
smaller scale, to complete this element of the carbon strategy.
Although the focus is on carbon offsetting the opportunities for
wider ecological and net bio diversity gain are also being
explored, which is important given changing legislation around
development in the UK”.
All enquiries to:
Jason Baggaley - Fund
Manager
Tel: 0131 245 2833
E-mail: jason.baggaley@aberdeenstandard.com
Mark
Blyth - Deputy Fund Manager
Tel: 07703 695 490
E-mail: mark.blyth@aberdeenstandard.com