Building engagement in ESG in the run up to COP27 and COP28

Through the region’s strategic role in the energy transition, pioneering hydrogen, and circular economies, developing sustainable destinations, localising supply chains, generating employment, expanding social inclusion and good governance, ESG can drive both the transformation and create opportunities to develop world leading, competitive advantage. This is according to a recent workshop titled “ESG: Reimagining our Region” hosted by PwC in Dubai for regional media this month.

Globally, governments are shifting towards ESG, with huge implications, and it is no different in the Middle East. This is a complex topic with far-reaching consequences for businesses and society, in general. With the aim of cutting through some of this complexity and encouraging debates and discussions on this topic, PwC held an ESG media workshop hosted by its key regional and global ESG leaders.

The workshop provided insights on ESG challenges, economic opportunities, and competitive advantages from adopting the ESG agenda and outlined the core priorities for ESG in the Middle East that are specific to the region, such as decarbonisation, climate change, diversity and inclusion, nationalisation of workforce and water shortage, among others.

The session also aimed at building engagement on the crucial topic of ESG in the run up to COP27 in Egypt and COP28 to be hosted by the UAE in November 2023. As sustainability and the environment will be high on the agenda for the coming 17 months, and further potential government initiatives are expected, there is a need to increase awareness and understanding of this critical topic.

Dr Yahya Anouti, PwC Middle East ESG Leader, commented: “We are on a mission to make ESG the new competitive advantage for the region. We already have the most competitive sustainable energy in the world and that opens up unique opportunities for innovations such as green hydrogen. Similarly, giga projects hold enormous potential if we can design them to have lower waste outputs and we build circularity into them.”

Stephen Anderson, PwC Middle East Strategy & Markets Leader, commented: “At PwC, we believe that Environmental, Social and Governance imperatives can accelerate the massive and fast transformation of our region and our role is to work with clients to help them embed ESG into their business. We have a unique set of capabilities within our organisation to take clients from ESG strategy through transformation to reporting. We are committed to using our knowledge and expertise to help ensure our region realises its ESG ambitions and sustains them for future generations.’

To address the climate challenge, a radical transformation is needed in every sector of the global economy and across all parts of the world. Businesses and economies must evolve quickly to address the significant challenges facing our society and planet. PwC is making a worldwide science-based commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, which includes supporting its stakeholders to lower the emissions as well as reducing those from the PwC network’s operations and suppliers.