Marking the 2018 World Environment Day, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) has launched the UAE Green Business Toolkit online. The role of the private sector is increasingly important to protect the country’s precious natural resources and the global climate as well as to transform the country into a green, diversified economy. This new publication is intended to inspire all types of businesses around the country to take the first step to become more environmentally friendly and socially responsible.
One of the key pillars of the UAE Green Agenda 2030 adopted in 2015 is the development of knowledge-based green industries, such as clean energy, green buildings and sustainable cities, sustainable food, environmental goods and services, and eco-tourism. The National Climate Change Plan 2050 approved in 2017 emphasizes the role of the private sector in managing greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing climate risks and increasing adaptation capabilities. At the heart of the Plan is the target to generate 27 percent of energy from clean sources by 2021, which was further enforced by the UAE Energy Plan 2050 that aims for 50 percent clean sources in the national energy mix and 40 percent improvement in energy efficiency by 2050.
While those ambitious targets require a fundamental shift to a low-carbon green economy, this could offer great opportunities for the UAE business. The earlier estimate made in the development of the UAE Green Agenda indicates that the efforts for green economy transformation would result in 4 to 5.5 percent higher GDP growth and creating 160,000 new jobs by 2030. The private sector’s successful mobilization of clean, efficient technologies, knowledge and finance is key to realize such economic and employment gains.
The UAE Green Business Toolkit was therefore produced as the first publication from MOCCAE in support of the private sector’s engagement in environmental actions. It is aimed to provide entry-level guidelines on what and how to do for greening the existing business or establishing a new green business as an entrepreneur, in the three key areas: Green Office, Green Procurement, and Green Products. In each area, key actions to be taken are outlined and steps to implement actions are advised in a concise, visually attractive format. For those who wish to learn more details, a comprehensive list of reference materials is provided to guide them to the next level.
Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zayoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said, "Despite common perceptions, a green business can actually save costs from raising efficiency in resource use, improve its reputation and competitive advantage in the marketplace, and become resilient to changing environment and unexpected events. This practice will keep the staff happy, healthy and productive and attract high quality employees as well as more customers. By making your business greener and more responsible, you can also make a great contribution to fulfilling the national and global agendas such as the UAE Vision 2021 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
"The UAE has a strong track record of partnering with businesses, and we are driving the growth of the green industry through private-public partnerships. I hope that this new publication will help more businesses – particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – to join the nation-wide efforts for creating a sustainable, climate-resilient future."
The UAE Green Business Toolkit is available for download free of charge from the MOCCAE website www.moccae.gov.ae.