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 company performance. It is our belief that no economic activity can take place in a vacuum, somehow unconnected from either people or the planet. On the contrary, doing business involves a constant evaluation of the interaction between economic, social, and environmental objectives, and business success requires a balance of all three.

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 already have some great examples of success under our belt. In 2005 we obtained certification for our Environmental Management System (EMS) in accordance with ISO 14001 certification, and to date we have achieved accredited ISO 14001 certification on 21 shopping centres in operation and 11 construction sites.

At the end of 2006 we revised our environment strategy to focus specifically on Climate Change, Water, Waste and Land Use, and in 2007 we achieved positive trends across our key environmental performance indicators. We increased electricity efficiency, reduced water consumption per visit and improved recycling rates across our owned portfolio. We have now also set ourselves long term performance targets for Water, Waste and Land Use, in addition to our long term goal to achieve a 10% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by square metre of Gross Lettable Area by 2020, compared to the 2005 level.

Ultimately, of course, it is the dedication and commitment of our staff that will make a difference. I feel sure that the type of people employed by Sonae Sierra are also the type of people who rise to the challenge. 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. It is also part of our culture to be excited about the future and come up with longer-term solutions to the critical challenges of our time, such as climate change and excessive resource consumption. 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.

Álvaro Portela
CEO