ASDA'A BCW Launches One Point Five Consulting

The results of an exclusive study conducted by "ASDA'A BCW" showed that there is a valuable opportunity for 60% of companies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to enhance and develop their internal systems to control their work in accordance with standards of governance, social and environmental responsibility.

Half of the companies that own these systems emphasized that they need to enhance their employees' accurate understanding of these standards.

This came as part of a special study conducted by "ASDA'A BCW", the leading regional company in integrated media consulting services, and included interviews with 200 senior officials in companies operating in the two countries.

The study was prepared as part of the company's plan to launch the consultancy OnePoint5, whose name is inspired by one of the most important sustainability goals in today's world, which is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

One Point Five aims to empower stakeholders in the Middle East and North Africa region to address governance, social and environmental challenges, while helping customers adopt more sustainable practices in their business.

The new advisory services unit comes at a time when Egypt is preparing to host the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Climate Change Convention COP27 next November, while the UAE is preparing to host its next edition, COP28 in 2023.

41% of the prominent decision-makers surveyed said that their companies already have robust frameworks for environment, society and governance, while a third (33%) indicated that their companies are working intensively to formulate them.

A quarter of them (26%) admitted that they need to do more to strengthen the frameworks and policies mentioned in their companies.

The study also revealed that 52% of the decision-makers whose companies have frameworks for environment, society and governance confirmed their need to enrich their knowledge about its contents accurately, which sheds light on the urgent need to spread awareness of the requirements of standards of corporate governance, social responsibility and environmental responsibility.

Sunil John, founder of ASDA'A BCW and President of BCW in the Middle East and North Africa, emphasized that the new study showed the need for the corporate community in the Middle East to do more to meet the expectations of their governments regarding best sustainability practices.

Establishing frameworks for governance, social and environmental responsibility

Sunil John said: “The new consulting unit One Point Five can assist clients in developing ESG frameworks to enhance value for shareholders and stakeholders. This advisory unit will be led by Stephen Worsley, Senior Vice President at ASDA'A BCW. With over 25 years of media experience, Worsley has advised clients in the sustainability and energy sectors, including Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), Total, Zayed Sustainability Prize, ENGIE and First Solar.”

One Point Five provides four main services, including: advice and guidance to decision makers to ensure that sustainable ideas are incorporated into their business plans and reports;

auditing and gap analysis to understand the impacts of sustainability on customer business;

designing operational plans to help implement best practices;

And formulate communication strategies and plans to support customers in the process of educating and motivating employees and informing internally concerned parties with the necessary information, in addition to enhancing externally concerned parties’ awareness of their commitments related to sustainability.

Bridging the word and deed gap

John noted: "There is a huge gap between awareness of the urgent need to advance sustainable development and the effective measures taken by companies on the ground, so these companies need to strengthen efforts and join forces to bridge it. From this standpoint, the importance of integrated consulting services such as 'One Point Five' comes to the fore, Especially as it is able to help customers address the so-called 'say and do' equation, by combining the skills of experienced communications agencies with the high technical capabilities of specialists in the fields of sustainability."

John added: "The UAE, Saudi Arabia and many countries in the Middle East and North Africa have pledged to achieve the goal of climate neutrality and support efforts to combat climate change, and have embarked on many structural reforms to raise levels of transparency, establish better governance frameworks and establish standards of sustainability, not to mention the establishment of huge infrastructure projects. And countries in the region have presented viable models such as “The Line” in Saudi Arabia and Expo 2020 Dubai, which has become the most sustainable World Expo ever, and the site chosen to host COP28 next year. The message here is clear, tackling climate change is everyone’s responsibility. without exception".

Climate change has a huge impact on Middle Eastern companies

The study also revealed the need for companies in the Middle East to intensify their efforts to address the repercussions of climate change, with nearly two-thirds of decision-makers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia (61%) stating that global warming has already affected their companies' operations.

While there was a clear opportunity to improve corporate governance standards, 40% of companies in the two countries confirmed that they have sound policies to combat bribery, corruption and unethical behaviour.

46% of the companies included in the survey in the UAE and 43% in Saudi Arabia said that they have a strong policy for reporting violations and exposing corruption.

It is worth noting that BSP Middle East, which specializes in global strategic analysis and studies and wholly owned by ASDA'A BCW, took over the task of conducting the survey from 22 to 29 May 2022. The polled sample included a group of decision-makers directly concerned with issues Governance, social and environmental responsibility in their companies, equally distributed between the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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