Let’s look at the currency of the future – Sustainability. Regardless of who we are, where we live, and what we do, we all have a moral obligation to each other, our future generations, and other species to sustain the planet. Sustainability improves the quality of our lives, protects our ecosystem and preserves natural resources for the future.
In the corporate world, sustainability is associated with an organization’s holistic approach, taking into account everything, from manufacturing to logistics to customer service. Just like digital transformation, driving sustainability requires organizations to transform every division of their business. The potential for companies to embark on their sustainability journey can provide short-term gains, such as cost efficiency plus more long-term commercial accomplishments such as enhanced reputation, tapping into new markets and innovation capacity.
With 2023 being announced as the ‘Year of Sustainability’ in the UAE, at GMG, we recognize the vital need to prioritize sustainability as a responsible corporate organisation. We believe that creating and implementing a sustainability strategy across all our business units is a crucial step towards positive change. Our ‘Make A Difference’ Sustainability Strategy represents our commitment towards contributing to sustainable development and lasting change in the region and the world. Our strategy is carried by 3 key pillars – Planet Forward, Inspire People and Own Change.
Our first ‘Planet Forward’ pillar is aimed at ensuring that our company’s actions are geared towards building a better planet for everyone, not just for the business, by tackling energy, waste disposal, water management, and recycling. Under the ‘Inspire People’ pillar, we focus on ensuring the well-being of employees by supporting their career growth, as well as ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion additionally to their health, safety and well-being. Lastly, through the ‘Own Change’ pillar, we aim to inspire people to own and drive change for continuous growth and operational excellence across all of GMG’s business units.
At GMG, embracing sustainability is a journey, not a destination. As a well-being company, our objective is to contribute towards a positive impact on the planet as well as our employees, business partners, customers and various stakeholders. Each of these pillars will allow us to achieve our objective and bring our sustainability commitments to fruition. We will do this by structuring and implementing sustainability governance throughout our organisation. We hold ourselves accountable for our own impact, and are committed to protecting our environment, empowering our community and encouraging sustainable practices whenever we can.
By Irene García Lasala