Enforcing construction tycoons to play fair.

The real estate and construction sector uses up 43 per cent of global energy production. The energy consumed by the industries to produce myriads of building materials causes massive emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Thus, the sector becomes the biggest contributor to global warming.

Since the sector is conducive to invariably increasing housing needs, the world requires a new equation to battle the worst climate change partially caused by the sector. Readdressing ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) values in the industry could pour oil on troubled waters.

The ESG model in real estate warrants sustainable environment protection, the sociability of real assets, safety of the construction crew and the capacity of real estate companies to ensure post-development property management.

I would encourage investors to realize ESG elements while making financial decisions. It may, in the long run, enforce the property tycoons to consider fair play while architecting, developing and managing housing and business districts.

Government should mandate investors to realise ESG elements while architecting, developing and managing housing and business districts

According to the European CFO Survey 2020, a bit more than half of the real estate companies in Europe consider ESG measures. They are more responsible business doers and the rest of the world could follow their footprints in this regard.

To what extent are the real estate conglomerates socially responsible? According to the US Department of Labour, around 900 workers die on construction sites in the United States every year. It equals 20pc of total workplace fatalities. Upwards of 175,000 occupational injuries are in addition to this.

Just imagine the condition of safety at construction scaffolds in developing and underdeveloped countries where obsolete technology, unskilled labour and least safety measures hamper the way forward.

As per Pakistan Social Sciences Review, STFs (slips, trips and falls) are the key contributors to the total number of fatalities in the construction industry. About 6pc of Pakistan's total workforce in construction suffers from workplace injuries and fatalities because of governance failure. This is why ESG values have become inevitable in the construction segment specifically.

The ban on conventional brick kilns in Pakistan in the last few years is an appreciable step. Brick kilns in developing and underdeveloped countries are playing havoc with...