RBC and Pontegadea have committed to put RBC’s Toronto headquarters on the path to net-zero by 2040, addressing the carbon emissions from the bank’s third-largest commercial office space.

The plan is centred around Royal Bank Plaza. The owner of the 1.5-million-square-foot building with 24-carat-gold-tinted windows is Pontegadea, the investment company of Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega, the founder of fashion company Inditex. RBC leases over 600,000 square feet in the building.

Under the lease agreement signed by both companies, Pontegadea is to develop a decarbonization roadmap for Royal Bank Plaza in consultation with RBC. It is expected to outline how the building’s fossil fuel-powered systems will be switched to electricity, for example, significantly diminishing carbon emissions.