ESG Framework

At a time when almost every company boasts “ESG credentials”, Divercity offers investors a genuine and tangible alternative that goes beyond compliance.

ESG is not something we’re retrofitting to our business – it is part and parcel of what we’ve been doing all along.

By investing responsibly in well-located, affordable rental housing, we generate significant positive environmental, social, and good governance-related impacts.

Our ESG framework captures these positive impacts:

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Measuring and monitoring our ESG performance

To measure and monitor our ESG performance on an ongoing basis, we’ve put a state-of-the-art ESMS (environmental and social management system) in place. Divercity is committed to the highest standards of ESG policy and compliance throughout the organisation.

Alignment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Formulated with the intention of ending poverty, protecting the environment and enhancing prosperity by 2030, the SDGs provide a useful lens to demonstrate our ESG impact. Although our business contributes to most of the SDGs, below are the six SDGs where we believe we have the most positive impact.

SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation

SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning

SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

SDG 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

By 2030, the UN’s goal is to ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services.

Our impact

Over the next five 5 years, Divercity expects to construct more than 10,000 new and green affordable residential units in centrally-located neighbourhoods, expanding housing options close to economic opportunity for low- and middle-income households. Construction of the new residential units will help address the growing housing deficit and issues of spatial segregation in South Africa.

By 2030, the UN’s goal is to develop reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all

Our impact

Divercity is providing housing in locations that are connected to existing infrastructure, such as healthcare, schools, jobs and parks. This serves to reinforce accessible and equitable cities, as well as strives to break the destructive pattern of South Africa’s apartheid infrastructure and planning.

By 2030, the UN’s goal is to strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity to climate related disasters

Our impact

More compact cities – enabled through the kind of development that Diversity advances – are associated with substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions, better land-use, and energy and resource efficiency, based on research 1 we’ve done with the Green Building Council South Africa (GBSCA) and Arup. Divercity has a commitment to minimising greenhouse gas emissions and is already supporting climate change mitigation through a range of measures, such as rooftop solar arrays, energy and water efficient design in all of our buildings and EDGE rating of all new developments.

By 2030, the UN’s goal is to ensure equitable and quality to pre-primary, primary and secondary education and lifelong learning

Our impact

Through our Ithemba Upliftment Foundation, we are contributing to early childhood development, enabling hundreds of young children to receive quality education at Daycare Centres in our precnits. This is in addition to the widened access to formal education facilities that are part of our developments, and our efforts in supporting lifelong learning through supporting adult education.

By 2030, the UN’s goal is to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, renewable and modern energy sources

Our impact

As the cost of renewable energy generation capacity becomes more accessible and affordable, we are integrating these technologies more broadly across our residential portfolio. Divercity is focussed on eco-responsible housing as a viable means to contribute to sustainable and environmentally friendly urban development – through rigorous adherence to green building standards, including the use of energy efficient LED lights, rooftop solar arrays, energy efficient hot water generation and energy efficient building design.

By 2030, the UN’s goal is to encourage and promote effective public, private and civil society partnerships to attain the global goals

Our impact

Our partnerships empower us to champion progressive policy that supports sustainable development. One impactful example of such a partnership is our work with Green Building Council South Africa (GBSCA) and Arup, the global multi-disciplinary firm, on a research project on the enormous environmental and economic costs of the current dynamic of urban sprawl in Johannesburg. Through this project, we developed actionable recommendations for policymakers, investors and other stakeholder groups.
You can read more about the research project, titled: Does location matter? here.