Logistics Real Estate Firm Montea Names Chief Sustainability Officer: 4 Things to Know

Montea, a European logistics real estate firm with sustainable warehouse expertise, has hired Arup veteran Samia Robbins (pictured above) as chief sustainability officer (CSO).

Robbins joins the Montea Exco team and reports to CEO Jo De Wolf. Here are four things to know about Robbins and Montea's sustainability goals.

1. Montea's Business Focus and Scale: Montea develops real estate and maintains warehouses in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany. The company's key services include sale & rent back transactions; build-to-suit solutions; and sustainable warehousing. As of March 2023, Montea's property portfolio spanned 1.9 million square meters (about 20.4 million square feet) across 92 locations.

2. Montea's Sustainability Milestones: For the reference year 2021, the company achieved a 77% score on the GRESB scale, up 8% compared to 2020. In the various categories analyzed by GRESB, the company scored “Best in class” compared with sector competitors in two categories: Energy consumption by and greenhouse gas emissions from Montea’s buildings. Furthermore, the company took home gold at the EPRA sBPR awards, after winning silver the previous year. (Source: Montea's FY 2022 annual report.)

3. Samia Robbins' Focus and Responsibilities: Robbins will lead the group’s "sustainability ambitions across its countries and management services, including efforts to support its clients’ transition into lower-carbon businesses and delivering services to help our clients achieve their climate action plans," the company said.

Robbins has extensive experience in the sustainability sector. She previously was head of energy for Arup in Nederland; an associate at Mott MacDonald; and sustainability manager at Mace Group.

4. Executive Perspectives: In a prepared statement about joining Montea, Robbins said: “Enabling change to achieve the transition to net zero is all our responsibilities and I’m proud to be part of Montea to lead the way in every step we take. We care not only for our footprint in this region, but working together we will focus on the sustainability of our communities and future of our employees. It’s the whole system of people, planet and logistics combined and sharing our experience that creates the biggest impact."

Added Montea CEO Jo De Wolf: "As our country teams continue to take initiatives towards more eco-friendly practices, Samia will further promote and streamline these initiatives to ensure that Montea takes a leading role in the exciting journey towards a more environmentally conscious society. Samia’s unique skillset and leadership will make a significant impact on Montea’s sustainability ambition as a core strategic pillar across both our existing and future portfolio.”

Montea Names Chief Sustainability Officer: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.