AMEINAH ALZEYOUDI (ABU DHABI)
As the Middle East shifts from strategic goals to meaningful action on sustainability, the UAE stands out as home to dozens of key leaders driving this progress, according to Forbes Middle East’s List of Sustainability Leaders 2025.
Out of the 126 executives listed for driving sustainability and impact in the region’s largest companies, 67 are based in the UAE. Saudi Arabia followed with 23 entries, and Egypt with 12.
The list features CEOs, chairpersons, and chief sustainability officers across 15 major industries, such as banks, energy and utilities, food and agriculture, investment and holding companies, healthcare, renewable energy, telecom, transport and logistics, travel and tourism, among others. These movers and shakers have been establishing the standards for corporate responsibility and climate action in their respective sectors.
For this year’s ranking, Forbes Middle East gathered information from questionnaires, sustainability or ESG reports, official disclosures, and recent news. Each sector was assessed separately, and initiatives were horizontally compared with special weight given to sector-specific efforts.
Among the major achievements highlighted in the report was the 62% growth in the portfolio of Masdar, the UAE’s clean energy champion and one of the fastest growing companies in the world. Headed by its longest-serving CEO, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Masdar reached an overall capacity of 51GW in 2024 — marking over half of its 2030 target of 100GW. Al Ramahi topped the Forbes list for renewable energy leaders.
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has also achieved a significant milestone as it completed 50% of the UAE’s largest aluminium recycling facility. The plant will process post and pre-consumer scrap into low-carbon billets and is expected to begin production in Q1 2026. EGA, led by its CEO Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, is also the first company to produce aluminium using solar power worldwide, according to the Forbes report. Bin Kalban was named among the sustainability leaders in manufacturing and industrials, together with Saeed Al Remeithi of EMSTEEL Group.
Ranked among the sustainability leaders for investment and holding companies were Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director and Group CEO of Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), and Badr Al-Olama, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO).
For travel and tourism, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, was listed along with Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Group CEO of ADNEC Group; Antonoaldo Neves, Group CEO of Etihad Aviation Group; and Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi, Group CEO of Miral.
For oil and gas, Ibrahim Al Zu’bi, Group Chief Sustainability and ESG Officer of ADNOC Group, and Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum, were named.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World; Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO of AD Ports Group; Shadi Malak, CEO of Etihad Rail; and Ibrahim Al Haddad, CEO of Salik, were listed among the prominent sustainability leaders in transport and logistics.
Among the UAE industry leaders featured under the energy and utilities category were Jasim Husain Thabet of TAQA Group; Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA); Yousif Al-Ali of Etihad Water and Electricity (EtihadWE); and Ahmad Bin Shafar of Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower).
Leya Al Damani of PureHealth Group, Azad Moopen of Aster DM Healthcare, Dimitris Moulavasilis of M42, and John Sunil of Burjeel Holdings were listed in the healthcare category.