The COP28 Journey: Diving into MENA's Sustainability Reporting

It's been a month or so since my last newsletter, and in that time everyone has become an expert in artificial intelligence. I wanted to look at another, arguably more important issue, namely sustainability. The issue is very much at the forefront of global debate, especially given the continuing publishing of data on climate warming and what this means for humanity and the planet.

Sustainability matters increasingly to the region. We may not have our Greta (yet), but given that COP27, the annual global conference on climate change, took place in Egypt last year and is set to take place in the UAE this year, the issue is firmly on the agenda and is making headlines across the region. The UAE has announced that 2023 is the year of sustainability. The spotlight is on sustainability.

Given this, I am going to start looking at what the region's largest brands and companies are doing when it comes to sustainability. Some of this is borne out of a conversation which took place a couple of weeks ago, about how brands and organizations may be undertaking sustainability-related activities but not necessarily communicating about this with their stakeholders.

I'm going to use publicly-available materials to review what organizations are doing in this area. The best place to often start is with annual reports from some of the best-known brands in the region. I'm going to begin with two industry and two companies that are front and center in this discussion, logistics and aviation represented by Aramex and Emirates respectively.

Aramex Leading By Example

It's fair to say that Aramex puts a great deal of thought into sustainability. The company's reporting reflects this, with an integrated annual document that reaches almost 200 pages for 2022. The document, which is based on a number of international reporting principles and sustainability concepts, clearly states what sustainability means to Aramex. Sustainable development goals are mapped to stakeholders and actions, there's materiality assessments, and clear data points on literally every touchpoint and activity.

Going deeper, Aramex has provided overviews of its approach to the Circular Economy and Life Cycle Assessment, and has also provided the full scope of its greenhouse gas emissions. There's a section on how the company is engaging employees to embed sustainability. I could go on and on. For a report, Aramex has done a remarkable job. My only ask would be to break this down into bite-sized chunks, so that more people could see what the company is doing.

You can see the 2022 report here.

Emirates - A Different Perspective

Emirates Group is one of the largest travel and aviation organizations worldwide. Sustainability reporting can be found within the organization's full annual report. There are six pages of data in the 2021-2022 annual report, with much of it being forward-looking (ie what Emirates will do). Emirates shares perspectives on what technology will do for the industry (think sustainable aviation fuel). There's some data on aircraft efficiency, noise and air quality, and scopes one and two carbon dioxide emissions.

I'll have to admit that I was hoping to understand more from an organization with such a major impact on global aviation and tourism. I am sure Emirates is doing more, but this doesn't come across to me in their reporting. You can see their 2021-2022 report here.

That's all for this week. Who should I review next? Let me know in the comments below!