Our Sustainability Approach

“Simply put, the challenges we face today are too great for any one organization—or sector—to solve alone. It is only by working together in new forms of partnership, based on trust and transparency, that we can hope to bring about the kind of scale that is needed for truly transformational change.”

PAUL POLMAN, NON-EXEC DIRECTOR
& CO-AUTHOR OF NET POSITIVE

With a clear focus, we’re building the foundations to deliver our vision to be the top-five family-owned businesses with a nature positive portfolio by 2030.

From a sustainability perspective our mission is to be listed amongst the global top five wholly-owned family businesses in terms of our contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and impactful giving.

With strategic direction at group-level our decentralised sustainability approach allows each of our portfolio companies to focus on the SDGs that make the most difference in their industry, and at their current stage of maturity.

Our Framework

This framework guides all the companies in Al-Dabbagh Group to establish their own materiality, set their own goals and deliver positive impact in the best way they can. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide focus while Global Reporting Indicators (GRI) measure our progress on environmental, social, economic and governance. As signatories to the UN Global Compact (UNGC), we are committed to the ten principles of good corporate citizenship, set out here.

  • Environmental

    Reducing our impact

    • Climate Action
      Waste Management
      We aim to decrease our carbon footprint by improving our travel efficiency and last mile delivery, clubbing deliveries, carpooling, online meetings, and other initiatives.
    • Responsible consumption and production
      Logistics Efficiency
      We manage, segregate, and recycle our waste in all our different sectors. Our group companies innovate and invest in sustainable initiatives that create value from our waste discharge.
    • Clean water and sanitation
      Water Recycle / Reuse
      We monitor our water usage, find new solutions to reduce and improve our water usage, and/ or reuse/recycled/treat wastewater as fit for businesses’ industries.
    • Affordable and clean energy
      Energy Efficiency
      We monitor our electricity and energy consumption quarterly and implement solutions that help reduce our electricity usage. And we aim to implement renewable energy solutions.

  • Social

    Building inclusivity

    • Good health and well-being
      Health & Wellness
      We prioritize the health and satisfaction of our employees by providing competitive benefits and complying with health & safety regulations; alongside improving safety measures across our range of business operations.
    • Quality Education
      Talent Development
      We invest in our people; providing our employees with proper educational and job training programs aiming to develop and improve their professional & personal skills.
    • Gender equality
      Women in Leadership
      We support women empowerment in our businesses; offering females the opportunity to lead and occupy senior positions to expand their expertise. In addition to providing equal employment rights for females in all positions.
    • Peace, Justice and strong Institutions
      Labor Rights & Responsible Sourcing
      We respect human rights, and we stand against any unethical practices in the workplace and across our value chain. We continuously monitor any workplace complaints to improve and create better workplace conditions for all employees.

  • Economic

    Transforming business models

    • Decent work and economic growth
      Job Creation
      We create projects, initiatives, partnerships, and platforms that contribute to creating a wide range of job opportunities.
    • Industry, Innovation and infrastructure
      Community Support
      We sponsor social, environmental, cultural, and other sustainable events marked in our Sustainability Calendar. We support NGOs and other organizations that align with our values including but not limited to: quality education, and hunger elimination. We also encourage the communities we serve to participate in giving back via our social projects through donations, volunteering, and other acts.
    • Reduced Inequalities
      Diversity & Inclusion
      We implement a fair recruitment process which encourages diversity by selecting candidates with proper qualifications rather than basing decisions on their gender, race, nationality, language, age, religion, etc..
Al-Dabbagh Group companies use 25 GRI indicators to measure their progress

Our Sustainability Goals

1
By 2023 we will have sustainability investment criteria embedded in our future partnership and M&A strategy.
2
By 2025 we will be one of the top five wholly-owned family businesses contributing to the UN SDGs.
3
By 2030 we will achieve net-zero in our CO2 emissions across our investment portfolio.
4
By 2030 we will achieve Nature Positive status across our investment portfolio.

Translating high-level goals into action.

To achieve these goals, group wide, we focus on the three areas of impact; reducing our environmental impact, building a more inclusive business and transforming business models to be more sustainable.

The companies in Al-Dabbagh Group’s portfolio are diverse, so we take a decentralised, rather than a directive approach, with regular reporting to make sure progress is being made. This decentralised approach is described below.

Our Governance

Accountability and oversight across a diverse portfolio

The Sustainability Council is formed by Sustainability Leads from Al-Dabbagh Group’s six verticals. There is considerable diversity across industries and sustainability maturity so they meet quarterly to share learnings and insights, discuss challenges and pool resources to deliver bigger impact, faster.

Progress across the group’s portfolio is measured through GRI indicators that each company reports on quarterly.

Our Decentralised Approach

Our decentralised approach means our portfolio companies are all at different stages of maturity in their sustainability journey. We use the framework described above to reduce bureaucracy and enable each company to focus on their most material issues while the five stages of Al-Dabbagh Group sustainability journey help us monitor and support portfolio businesses as they progress towards maturity.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Stage 1

    RIGHT THING

    Focused on establishing a shared understanding of sustainability.
  • Stage 2

    Managing

    Managing to remove, reduce and better managing risk and negative impact.
  • Stage 3

    Optimising

    Optimising the business for sustainability scientifically across scopes 1, 2 and 3.
  • Stage 4

    Growing

    Growing the business through more sustainable innovation.
  • Stage 5

    Transforming

    Transforming business models, sectors and systems.