Hamburg, May 6, 2021 – At today’s Annual General Meeting, alstria office REIT-AG (symbol: AOX, ISIN: DE000A0LD2U1) proposed a Green Dividend to its shareholders, which was adopted by 85.2% of the votes.
The proceeds of the Green Dividend will be invested in the installation of additional solar power generation in alstria’s portfolio (up to 900 kw peak) and into an external R&D project, focusing on carbon removal alternatives for the real estate industry (up to EUR 0.75 million). A similar amount will be deducted from next year’s dividend (if any), which will be reduced by EUR 0.01 per share (a reduction of 1.9% based on the current dividend).
The amount of Green Dividend proposed by the company (EUR 0.01 per share or EUR 1.78 million) corresponds1 to the theoretical value of the unpaid carbon that alstria used in its operation during the last reporting period (Scope 1, 2, and 3), as shown in the company’s carbon profit and loss statement.2
This is the second time the company has asked its shareholders whether they approve spending corporate assets on environmental projects that will not meet the company’s risk-return expectations, but instead will contribute to addressing the systemic risk of climate change.
“Today’s vote is not about the amount that has been approved by our shareholders. We are aware that the EUR 1.78 million that we have proposed today as Green Dividend is a drop in the ocean. It is about the signal this gives”, says Olivier Elamine, CEO of alstria. “For the first time, a company has asked its shareholders to disregard financial returns and look at an investment through the sole lens of climate change mitigation. What we are demonstrating today is that the conversation with shareholders should not be solely about what companies are doing but also about what they are not doing. Across the corporate board, climate change mitigation projects are dismissed as they do not match financial return criteria. Management alone cannot relax financial discipline, and neither should they. However, it can be done in agreement with the shareholders, as we have seen today”, Olivier Elamine states.
1) 2020 carbon expenses amounted to EUR 2.3 million. EUR 1.78 million of Green Dividend is the closest dividend amount to this sum considering the number of shares outstanding.
2) www.alstria.com/sustainability/#carbon-accounting
For more information about the Green Dividend please visit:
www.green-dividend.com
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