Dubai summit targets carbon footprint

Companies should make reducing their impact on the environment a key business issue, organisers of a corporate social responsibility summit said on Monday.

“With a city like Dubai having one of the world’s highest per capita carbon footprints, reducing a company’s impact on the environment and its energy costs should be a core element of any CSR programme for every business in the emirate,” said Kosta Petrov, conference manager of the CSR summit to be held in Dubai in June.

According to the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), the city has one of the highest per capita energy consumption rates in the world. New ‘slab’ measures are being introduced by the utility aimed at encouraging consumers to use less by paying more.

A recent survey by facilities management firm Farnek Avireal showed five star hotels in Dubai use up to 225% more energy than their European counterparts.

Delegates at the summit will be asked if their companies are doing enough on the issue of global warming and climatic change, Petrov said, while experts will be on hand to advise businesses on how they can play their part in reversing the process.

An environmental leader’s panel will debate the business case behind reducing an organisation’s carbon footprint and climate change strategy within a CSR programme. Contributors include the Emirates Wildlife Society.

Abu Dhabi, which holds more than 8% of the world’s oil reserves, is investing $15 billion in developing alternative energy sources to reduce dependence on conventional hydrocarbons revenue.

It plans to build a zero-waste, zero-carbon, car-less city, which is billed as the world's first carbon-neutral city, a community housing 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses.