BPF Sustainability Conference 2025 - The Future of Sustainability Recap

Last week, ahead of our annual BPF Sustainability Conference, we hosted a roundtable with JLL and members of our BPF Futures network to hear what the next generation of property leaders think about ESG and the sector’s approach to sustainability. Here’s what they had to say 👇

🔎 Let’s focus more on the S

It’s time to put people front and centre, embedding social value and impact into everything we do. At its core, our industry is about creating great places for people to live, work and thrive.

🌳 The E goes beyond carbon

Yes, decarbonising buildings is vital, but our environmental footprint stretches much further. Mandatory biodiversity net gain has shone a light on the nature crisis, yet we must also consider our wider impact, onsite, offsite and across supply chains. We often talk about “embodied carbon”. Perhaps it’s time we started thinking more about “embodied nature”.

🙋‍♀️ It’s everyone’s responsibility

If we’re serious about delivering a sustainable sector, ESG cannot sit in the hands of a few specialists. It should be part of everyone’s role. Breaking down silos is the only way we will drive real change.

🤝 Collaboration over competition

We need to work together rather than compete. That means sharing ideas within the industry and learning from other sectors such as energy. We must also challenge some of the short-term thinking of policy-makers and build consensus around longer term solutions.

📱 Let’s make ESG trendy

How do we make ESG something people actually want to shout about? People will happily spend money on the latest iPhone, so how do we create the same buzz and bragging rights around achieving an EPC A rating on your home?

📝 Time to rebrand ESG?

Do we need to move on from the term altogether? Separating E, S and G can feel artificial when they’re so interconnected. Perhaps it’s time for simpler, more accessible and more holistic terms and frameworks.