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Are firms doing enough for the green cause?

The UAE has the largest carbon footprint, the highest consumption of water, and perhaps, one of the biggest waste-creating population in the world.

But, has the business community woken up to these facts? Not really, if a recent survey is any indication.

A recent Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Middle East Survey conducted in eight countries by the Sustainability Advisory Group (SAG) shows that while there is a growing sense of duty in the industry towards the society, environmental issues are still rather low on their list of priorities.

Maria Sillanpaa, Founding Director of SAG, said corporates are complacent about some of the critical issues facing the region with a large number of business leaders rating water conservation, climate change and waste as ‘un-important’ to their business. More than 60 per cent of the respondents from public and private sector companies belonged to the UAE.

“Given current predictions for the region in relation to water scarcity and climate change, this is an alarming result, which continues to suggest that a number of regional businesses are not yet fully prepared to deal with the shifting business context,” Sillanpaa said.

According to Amruta Kshemkalyani-Tavkar, a LEED certified mechanical engineer and an environment blogger in the UAE, CSR geared towards the environment is all in a day’s work for organisations and is rarely sustainable.

“There are a good number of organisations that are into CSR, but in my opinion, very few are socially responsible,” she said.

“Initially all the money spent on environment protection goes well but later you see a lack of consistency,” she said.

“Sometimes the investment of resources for the cause is not right.”

She adds: “For example, once at an environmental conference I saw a stand of a giant energy sector player. They were giving out some high quality environmental video CDs along with a stylish gift pack. But when I spoke to the employee on the stand and asked him what efforts they were making towards reducing their carbon footprint, he was unable to answer.”

The problem arises with executives fostering a short-tem profitability view without considering the long term impact of sustainable solutions.

In a business case for building a green technology — being compiled by Frost and Sullivan — similar attitudes were recorded by some CEOs in the region.

In a challenging economy, going green is often lost on the list of priorities of companies, said Lindsey Mc Donald, consultant and ICT analyst with Frost and Sullivan.

Citing the case of the telecom industry, Mc Donald pointed out that in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, the short tenure of high positioned executives hampers the goal of sustainability.

“Due to their short stints with the companies, they are perhaps concerned with making that initial investment and being remembered as the person who spent about two billion on renewable energy,” she told Khaleej Times.

“So there is a lot of caution in the market to make that initial investment,” she added. “What they necessarily do not understand is that making an investment right now can have positive outcomes in the future.”

Sharad Agarwal, CEO of Cyber Gear, a web designing company in Dubai, said: “What is good for the environment is good for the business.”

“Amid the escalating costs of doing business in the present scenario, going green is not only good for the environment, it’s smart business,” he stressed.

According to Agarwal, CSR is a vital component in corporate decision making and the honouring of a triple bottom line — People, Planet and Profit in that order.

In 2008 the company launched a web portal — www.go-green.ae — that provides news, updates and tips on how to reduce carbon footprint and adopt an eco-friendly approach to living. The website conducts a ‘Green Heroes Program’ that credits and encourages people who have contributed in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainability.

But it’s not only CSR but the change that needs to come from within, he points out. “We believe in implementing practical ways to go green,” he said.

“We use an intranet in the office so the business is virtually paperless. Wherever documents are required to be printed, we only use recycled paper.”

“Computers run on zero energy mode when not in use and mobiles and laptops are charged by solar energy in the office. “All employees use stainless steel water bottles so there is no use of plastic bottles or disposable cups.

“Marketing and technical staff by and large use the metro to commute,” he added.

Going Green, in fact, is a win-win situation for businesses with reductions in electricity, water and stationary bills and ultimately their carbon footprint, with a possible knock-on effect in homes as well. “In the future green policies will definitely become an asset for them,” Tavkar, said.

A lack of legislation governing environment-friendly business practices contribute to the nonchalant approach as well.

“Legislation is one of the main driving factors and because there aren’t regulations and a huge push for legislations, businesses do not have to do anything at this stage,” Mc Donald, said.

“If you look at the European market that have basic regulations like environment health and safety…there aren’t present here and that is understandable because the region is still catching up.”

Tavkar suggests that organisations that want to protect the environment need to stop pretending through CSR policies or promoting it through conferences. “On policy level they can arrange regular competitions and rewards for employees who save energy, paper, fuel and water. “Companies can make green policies compulsory and can add that in employees appraisal and evaluation.”

Her forecast for the future sees a compulsory move towards ecological preservation. “World over there is a push for a reduction of the populations’ carbon footprint.

“The upcoming market of green buildings will not compromise the high carbon foot print of organisations. New versions of ISO 14001 will be more stringent.

“It will be better if organisations start implementing practical and result-oriented environment policies now and keep following them consistently.”

afshan@khaleejtimes.com

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