Throughout history, the emergence of cities has transformed the lives of populations living in their vicinity and one needs to go no further than the story of the rise of Dubai, to see this in action. Although first mentioned in 1095, by Andalusian-Arab geographer and map maker Abu Abdullah Al Bakri, the area around the current cosmopolitan metropolis remained a relatively small settlement for centuries; primarily depending on fishing, pearl diving, and its status as a way station for traders passing through to more important – at the time – urban centres.
Fast-forward to 2021, and the city is a bustling global hub; diversifying from the oil and gas-based success it achieved since the 1950s, and transforming into the preferred regional headquarters for an impressive and long list of multi-national companies. The CSR initiatives implemented by the UAE’s business community reflect this dynamism and are leaving an indelible mark on empowering sustainability within the region.
Urbanisation and modernisation have worked hand in hand, to birth a progressive and economically vibrant modern UAE. As a result, the nation is well-positioned to emerge as a global leader in the creation of sustainable, smart, and resource efficient but abundant urban centres; through the combined efforts of both government-led and CSR initiatives.
The UAE is one of the earliest nations to champion urban sustainability
Cities support much higher population densities than rural areas, giving their residents access to the highest standards of education, healthcare, lifestyles, and amenities. They create an economic ecosystem that lower costs for consumers, while maximising profits for businesses – due to the sheer volume of the market. Unfortunately, being such vigorous drivers of economy has also turned many cities into the epicentres of pollution, unsustainable consumption, and climate change.
But, by localising the bulk of these challenges, cities give us the opportunity to implement transformative solutions – something that has not been lost on the UAE administration, as well as the nation’s business community. When the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, was announced in 2015, it included an emphasis on the creation of sustainable cities with SDG 11 indicating: “Make cities and human settlements safe, resilient, and sustainable”.
For its part, the UAE has been leading the charge on sustainability, even before the UN SDGs were created, in 2015. The UAE Vision 2021- launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2010 – includes a major emphasis on sustainability. The UAE’s Green Economy Initiative was announced in January 2012 and recently, the UAE unveiled a massive $1.7 billion worth of initiatives, to protect the environment, and enhance sustainability.
Given such a proactive policy and administrative environment, CSR initiatives in the UAE can play a significant role in creating global benchmarks for such interventions; apart from driving massive change within the region.
Tech-enabled CSR as driver of sustainability in the UAE
Technology is the primary driver of the accelerated change currently underway, in our world. Modern businesses are already major players in tech-enabled business transformation, so it makes sense for their CSR initiatives to embrace the same approach.
Here are some emerging innovation-driven approaches, which businesses in the UAE can champion, to contribute to SDG 11:
- Sustainable energy infrastructure: Renewable energy – including solar thermal and photovoltaic, wind energy, biomass energy, and more – is becoming one of the most important elements in the sustainable world. Not only can CSR initiatives invest in offsetting the carbon footprint of the business that initiates them, they can also take community-scale approach, and help create renewable energy infrastructure for their local communities.
- Sponsoring sustainability R&D: One of the most effective ways to accelerate sustainability is to support relevant research. CSR initiatives can empower these efforts by sponsoring labs, allocating funds for pilot installations, and pushing through the commercialisation stage by being early adopters themselves, and incentivising partners and customers to do so as well.
- Supporting rainwater harvesting: The UAE’s cloud seeding initiative has made a huge difference to annual rainfall, but it is not being leveraged optimally yet and decentralised rainwater harvesting is needed.
- Increasing sustainable green cover: The single most effective way to enhance the sustainability of an arid region like the UAE, is to support trees planting drives to sequester atmospheric carbon, and improve air quality. The challenge, in the past, has been the strain this would put on the UAE’s scarce water sources but new technologies such as Dake Rechsand’s Breathable Sand, can help here as well.
Sustainability-focused CSR initiatives can play a major role in addressing some of the biggest challenges that the UAE faces. And their success, in one of the world’s most arid regions, can be the inspiration that drives a global revolution, and ushers in the sustainable world that we are collectively aspiring to.
Chandra Dake, executive chairman and group, CEO of the Dake Group.
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