Internal ESG policy Boot Advocaten
Boot Advocaten has been a valued advisor on ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) issues for years. We advise our clients on the impact of national and international legislation, but also on the impact on valuations and strategy. We also offer very practical help, so that reporting requirements and sustainability standards are met.
Sustainable entrepreneurship is sometimes just 'doing'. The same applies to our own office. We always look at our own sustainability, health and well-being and discuss this with each other and, where possible, with our partners.
Health and diversity
Boot Advocaten strives for the health and well-being of people in the built environment and our own office. That also means inclusivity and diversity within our own team. For us, having the same vision is more important than sharing the same background. We have many international partnerships, which we are proud of, and we are constantly reminded how important and inspiring this works.
We also consider the health and well-being of our team very important. We approach it very practically: we all have access to sports facilities, a park, green views, lots of daylight, shared lunches and office fruit. We also have a regular Friday afternoon drink, during which we actively share knowledge about the experiences of the past week.
Reduce ecological footprint
We also strive for an increasingly smaller ecological footprint. We work digitally and 'clean office' as much as possible and we recycle as much as possible. From paper to coffee pulp, which is converted into biofuel and compost. We only light and heat those areas that are currently being used to avoid waste. Our office, near the Zuidas in Amsterdam, is also very centrally located and easily accessible by bicycle and public transport and our cars are electric. If possible, we hold meetings with clients and partners online, which saves many kilometers driven.
Monitoring and improvement
We also regularly evaluate our ESG policy to monitor and improve our sustainability impact.
Universities en students
Sharing knowledge about sustainability and legislation is something we do as much as possible. We also teach at the Amsterdam School of Real Estate and Nyenrode. We also actively involve students in our projects: for example, we are in talks with Sustainable Students Consultancy (SSC). This gives them a unique insight into how European legislation stimulates the sustainability of the economy and they gain hands-on experience concerning how ESG strategies are drawn up for companies.
Blue Building Institute
In 2015, Alexandra Jurgens-Boot founded Blue Building Institute (BBI). It was established to promote human health and well-being in the built environment. This gets to the heart of ESG and has a huge 'sustainability scope'.
BBI works together with the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), where Alexandra Jurgens-Boot is a member of the ESG board, among others. IWBI is known for the WELL Building Standard, which was introduced by BBI in the Netherlands. Based on measurable performance and derived from scientific studies, this allows the impact of a building to be tested on the health, comfort and well-being of the user, and can also be improved.
To help organizations meet their reporting obligations, BBI has developed an Automated SFDR Reporting Platform in collaboration with Boot Advocaten. The platform, called Stainable, has been on the air since January 1, 2023.