SUSTAINABILITY | STRATEGIES
The European Union , for instance , is a leader in ESG regulations , but some regions do not have the same level of maturity when it comes to seeing the economic value to investing in sustainable technologies .
Tawfik calls the many standards in circulation “ sustainability alphabet soup ” but welcomes the latest adoption of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive ( CSRD ) – standards that cover the full range of environmental , social , and governance issues , including climate change , biodiversity and human rights . Importantly , they will also work alongside global standards to ease the need for multiple reporting for companies .
However , reaching a global consensus or standardising regulations is still a long way off , but Tawfik says recent data could change that .
“ You cannot deny climate change any more ,” he says . “ When every summer is the hottest , and every winter the coldest , there is no escaping that climate change is real . I think there is consensus on what people are seeing – the trick is how countries , companies and people react to that in a unified way .”
Which brings us nicely to COP28 – the United Nations Climate Change Conference being hosted this year in the UAE . It ’ s fair to say that oil-producing countries in the Middle East have been a contributing factor to climate change , but many of those statecontrolled energy companies are already transitioning towards renewables . Financial strengths and a clear vision also mean many of these nations are leading the way and setting a global example .
92 September 2023