MENU PLACES PEOPLE PARTNERS PEPERRFOFORRMMAANNCCEE PERFORMANCE ((ENENVVIIRROONNMENMENTT)) (ECONOMIC) Performance (Environment) Policies 2022 Progress Profile of Environmental Impacts Climate Change Energy Resource and Circularity Water Biodiversity Occupant Wellbeing Building/Asset Investments Miami Back Bay Resiliency Study In January 2021, concluding a three-year exercise, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) proposed a plan to protect Biscayne Bay and the Downtown area from storm surges and a sea level rise. While the proposal met the engineering criteria, the structural solution consisting of a massive flood wall, which risked compromising the views and functionality of the waterfront. Swire Properties engaged an engineering firm to propose an alternative solution and design a long-term environmental solution that both protected and enhanced Miami’s urban coastline. Formally presented in February 2021, the plan envisioned a series of barriers to dissipate wave energy including a combination of submerged oyster reefs, mangroves, revetments and localised sea walls. The output, which also met engineering criteria, provided a platform for the County and municipalities to discuss viable nature-based solutions as an alternative to the proposed flood wall. As a result of input from Swire and the County’s and other governmental entities, in 2022 the USACE agreed to reconsider the proposed flood wall. They have now budgeted an additional USD8.2 million and 60 months for the study. Upon the announcement of the new study, an Army spokesperson said, “It is critical that any plan balance project performance while also preserving and protecting the environment and does so in an equitable manner for the community³6.” ³6 https://www.wlrn.org/news/2022-09-07/army-corps-agrees-to-redo-billion-dollar-plan-to-fortify-miami-dade-against-storm- surge SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2022 189