Sonae Sierra has long since heralded environmental good practice as one of its corporate values and has, over the years, made significant efforts to improve in this critical aspect of our company’s performance. It is our belief that no economic activity can take place in a vacuum, somehow unconnected from either people or the planet. Our sustainable approach to business involves the constant evaluation of the interactions between Sierra’s economic, social, and environmental objectives, through balance of these aspects as the route for business.

To us, environmental management is not just about doing the same business a little bit better. Instead, we view it as a product differentiator and source of competitive advantage. It requires us to work together to be creative and adapt our products and services so as to ensure environmental protection and ultimately promote economic prosperity.

We have some examples of the success of our work method during 2008.

After obtaining in 2005 ISO 14001 certification for our Environmental Management System (EMS), during 2008 we renewed this corporate certification, reinforced the number of ISO 14001 certifications in our operational centres by 18 and achieved an additional 5 certifications for the construction works of our new centres. Sonae Sierra has, up to date, certified by ISO 14001, 39 of our 51 centres under operation and 17 construction sites.

Following up on our environmental strategy, revised in 2006 to focus specifically on Climate Change, Water, Waste and Land Use, we see that during 2008 we continued to increase the ecological efficiency of our shopping centres. Electricity efficiency of our mall and toilet areas improved as electrical consumption of these areas decreased 1.4% from 2007 values. The same tendency for improvement was verified in the water consumption per visit, decreasing 12.5% from 2007, and the recycling rates across our owned portfolio which, by weight, increased 20 % when compared with 2007 levels.

We were also delighted to be honoured in 2008 with several awards, including the ExpoReal European Property Award’s inaugural Green Thinker Award for our environmental strategy.

Looking forwards to 2009, we are aware that tough times lie ahead as the current economic downturn deepens. As we brace ourselves to weather the storm ahead, we will remain committed to our mission to create value for our shareholders, through the shopping centre business,whilst taking account of our social and environmental responsibilities. To demonstrate our continued commitment to the Environment, we have set 9 targets to be achieved by the end of 2009 and we look forward to reporting in this portal our progress towards achieving these goals.

Ultimately, of course, it is the dedication and commitment of our staff that will make a difference. It is part of our philosophy to push the boundaries of best practice, and to inspire our colleagues and our suppliers to do the same, leading by example.

I am personally deeply committed to making a difference, and I hereby make a pledge to challenge the status quo and continuously strive to improve our working practices so that we remain at the vanguard of companies tackling these challenges.

Fernando Oliveira
Deputy CEO, responsible for Sustainability