With nationwide visions such because the Saudi Imaginative and prescient 2030 and We the UAE 2031 seeking to drive the combination of environmental and social influence concerns into core enterprise practices, PwC Center East has revealed how sustainability is rising as a key enabler of enterprise excellence in its newest report.
As governments and companies throughout the Center East drive ahead their financial transformation agendas, PwC Center East is exploring the function of sustainability in shaping future-ready enterprise methods.
In a brand new report, Embracing sustainable transformation: The trail to enterprise excellence, PwC Center East highlights main organisations are embedding sustainability into their transformation journeys, enhancing effectivity, resilience and long-term worth for stakeholders.
In comparison with 2023, 2.5 instances extra firms within the area now plan to entry inexperienced loans and bonds, reflecting a broader shift towards sustainable financing fashions that assist nationwide and world environmental priorities.
“Saudi Arabia’s transformational journey demonstrates how financial diversification, enterprise development, and sustainable growth can go hand in hand,” defined Riyadh Al Najjar, chairman of the board and KSA nation senior accomplice at PwC Center East. “Because the Kingdom creates new industries, unlocks innovation and allows a extra inclusive, sustainable future for generations to return – companies have a singular alternative to align with this imaginative and prescient by embedding sustainability into their company methods, operations, and tradition.”
Embedded sustainability
From aviation to city growth and industrial manufacturing, organisations align their sustainability targets to future-proof operations and ship influence. The report options real-world examples of this shift in motion:
Saudi Aramco advances industrial transformation via investments in carbon seize applied sciences and increasing its renewable vitality portfolio.Etihad Airways enhances gasoline effectivity and invests in sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) to align with the UAE’s decarbonisation targets.Aldar Properties incorporates sustainability into its mission growth technique, reaching excessive Estidama scores for environment friendly city growth.Masdar Metropolis stands as a mannequin of sustainable city growth, providing a free zone with engaging tax incentives and entry for companies targeted on clear vitality options.
Tamer Elleisi, transformation administration consulting accomplice at PwC Center East, additionally commented: “Embedding sustainability on the core of transformation allows companies to unlock long-term worth and strengthen their aggressive benefit. In our area, it’s clear that sustainability works finest when it’s a part of the larger image, built-in into the way in which companies develop, innovate, and lead.”
Challenges stay
Nevertheless, regardless of this momentum, organisations nonetheless face essential challenges in embedding sustainability into transformation initiatives. Findings from final 12 months’s Sustainability within the Center East report present that one in three executives cited an absence of inner expertise and sustainability experience as a big barrier. Moreover, 22 per cent of respondents pointed to the absence of supportive authorities insurance policies, whereas 19 per cent flagged conflicting laws throughout jurisdictions, emphasising the necessity for harmonised coverage frameworks to allow cross-border progress.
Many companies additionally battle with integrating sustainability targets into broader company methods, managing sustainability-related knowledge successfully, and securing crucial funding for long-term initiatives.
Enabling sustainable transformation
To handle companies’ struggles, PwC’s strategy focuses on three core lenses: strategic, operational, and cultural, designed to embed sustainability into each facet of transformation at scale.
The strategic lens aligns sustainability with transformation aims to unlock monetary returns and long-term worth. The operational lens embeds sustainable practices into day-to-day processes, leveraging AI, knowledge, and round financial system ideas to boost agility and cut back environmental influence. The cultural lens promotes a sustainability-first mindset, pushed by management dedication, worker upskilling, and organisational change.
Collectively, these three lenses allow organisations to steer with function, making certain sustainability is not only a parallel observe however a central driver of profitable, future-ready transformation initiatives. From ESG-aligned KPIs to sustainable worth chains, the report supplies a transparent framework for companies to drive influence.
Because the area strikes towards a low-carbon, inclusive financial system, the report underscores the urgency for each non-public and public sector organisations to transition from ambition to execution, main with function, agility, and influence.
