Luxury conglomerate LVMH and real estate business Swire Properties have formed a landlord-tenant collaboration with the aim of improving the ESG performance across LVMH stores, offices, and food and beverage locations.
Focused on property in Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong, the agreement wants to establish an “industry benchmark for landlord-tenant collaboration” and drive sustainable business practices in general.
The new partnership was formalised this week by Andrew Wu, president of LVMH Greater China, and Dr Han Zhi, director for retail at Swire Properties, at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai.
Initially, the specific sustainability partnership is in place until 2027 – although both parties expect to extend the deal. The work aims to cover new stores or office space developed in that time, as well as the future upgrading of existing stores and fits outs.
Geographically, the focus is across six cities in the China – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi’an and Sanya, as well as Hong Kong.
What the partnership looks like
The full specifics of the tie-up have not been revealed at this stage, but Swire Properties will engage LVMH brands in three proprietary sustainability programmes with the aim of achieving reductions in energy, water, and waste.
LVMH will be the launch partner for Swire’s new ‘Green Retail Partnership’ initiative that focuses on sustainable improvements in retail environments. An ‘Eco-design Checklist’ framework of 15 measures is being established by both companies that will set out specific standards for new LVMH retail premises.
The landlord-tenant collaboration will also result in greater data sharing in relation to energy and water use and waste management across LVMH stores and office premises. Smart metering equipment will be installed to monitor energy and water consumption, and there will be mechanisms to measure waste generation.
LVMH and Swire said they will also explore opportunities to exchange knowledge and advance progress in areas such as climate resilience, nature and biodiversity, people and wellbeing and supply chain management.
Antoine Arnault, LVMH image & environment director, said the alliance “allows us to strengthen our environmental strategy and implement the concrete actions we have established globally to achieve our low-carbon goals”.
Zhi argued that “making a real impact on climate change requires collaboration”.
LVMH has targeted to halve its global energy emissions by 2026 from a 2019 baseline, and by 2023 the group reported it had achieved a 28% reduction.
[image credit: Green Retail World]
