Cushman & Wakefield Hires Saeka Kuno as Head of Sustainability, Japan: 7 Things to Know

Global real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield has hired Longevity Partners veteran Saeka Kuno as head of sustainability, Japan.

Here are seven things to know about Kuno's experience and expertise, and Cushman & Wakefield's sustainability strategy.

1. Business Scope and Scale: Cushman & Wakefield, founded in 1917, is based in Chicago, Illinois. The Japan headquarters are in Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. The company has roughly 52,000 employees across nearly 400 offices and 60 countries. The commercial real estate brokerage specializes in property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, and valuation services. Revenue was $9.5 billion in 2023, down 6% from 2022 amid macroeconomic challenges in the commercial real estate market. We don't know what percentage of revenues come from Japan.

2. Sustainability Strategy: Cushman & Wakefield in April 2024 promoted Jessica Francisco to chief sustainability officer (CSO) -- a first-time position at the firm.

Rewind to June 2023, and the company disclosed plans to accelerate its overall sustainability strategy. Key moves included adopting Salesforce Net Zero Cloud for carbon reporting and other capabilities. The real estate firm is seeking to:

• Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions across its corporate offices and operations 50% by 2030 from a 2019 base year.
• Engage key clients representing 70% of scope 3 emissions at the firm’s managed properties to set science-based targets by 2025.
• Reach net zero value chain emissions (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) by 2050.

3. Sustainability Services: In addition to pursuing net zero strategies in its own business, Cushman & Wakefield offers sustainability services to customers. Examples include:

• Bespoke real estate sustainability strategies
• ESG compliance programs
• Carbon accounting
• Climate risk scenario analysis, scores and assessments
• Energy, water and waste audits and efficiency plans
• Building benchmarking and score optimization
• ESG reporting and disclosures
• Net zero audits, strategies and roadmaps

4. Asia Sustainability Services: Kuno has joined Cushman & Wakefield’s Asia Pacific Sustainability Practice Group, a team of over 90 professionals dedicated to providing sustainability services to clients in the Japanese market, the company said.

5. Executive Expertise: Kuno previously was sustainability and energy consultant at Longevity Partners Japan, a sustainability and energy consultancy that assists customers with the shift to a low-carbon economy. At Longevity, she advised real estate investment companies on sustainability initiatives for individual properties and entire portfolios. Her expertise includes real estate decarbonization, ESG advisory, sustainable due diligence, energy audits during property transactions, climate change physical risk assessments, green building certification, carbon market analysis, and GRESB assessment support, C&W said.

6. Executive Perspectives: In a prepared statement, Todd Olson, country head of Japan at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “We are very pleased that Saeka has joined our firm to drive forward our commitment to sustainability, which is recognized as one of the top priorities for many clients in the commercial real estate sector. I am confident that Saeka’s passion for sustainability, combined with the expertise of our team of real estate professionals, will help our clients on their journey to Net Zero.“

7. Japan Sustainability Updates: Among the regional updates to keep in mind:

• July 2024: Japan can triple its renewables capacity and aim to phase out coal power by 2035, a group of companies and NGOs said, as it urged the government to be more ambitious in accelerating its energy transition, Bloomberg reported.
• June 2024: Japan, a major coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyer, could be energy-independent by 2060 thanks to expansion of solar and wind power together with storage batteries, Reuters reported.
• May 2024: Japan had big plans for nuclear power before the 2011 tsunami, Bloomberg reported. Now a debate over restarting Japan's biggest nuclear facility will test if it can turn away from costly imported fuels, the report said.

Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs): 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.

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