Today's Edition
AMEINAH ALZEYOUDI (ABU DHABI)
With an increasing number of businesses integrating sustainability into their fundamental business operations, the UAE continues to set the standard for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards in the region. The UAE is leading the Middle East in converting ESG from a regulatory necessity into a quantifiable driver of growth and resilience, according to Cicero & Bernay’s (C&B) MENA ESG Report 2025.
According to the annual report, 60% of UAE-based businesses now concurrently address the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) pillars. As the country works toward its lofty UAE Net Zero 2050 and We the UAE 2031 targets, this represents a strategic move toward total sustainability integration. Instead of depending on symbolic or short-term projects, organisations are increasingly using data-driven ways to provide quantifiable results.
Employee involvement has become a crucial component of advancement. According to the report, 67% of UAE businesses actively support volunteer programmes that help achieve national sustainability goals, and 71% of businesses include their staff in ESG initiatives. This involvement shows that ESG in the UAE has spread to all levels of the corporate organisation and has transcended boardroom conversations.
The study examines how regional corporate priorities are evolving from ad hoc corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to organised, long-term ESG strategies. It is based on responses from 361 C-suite and senior executives across nine countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan.
Significantly, the paper emphasises how ESG’s business significance is becoming more widely acknowledged. Compared to past views of sustainability as a moral obligation, 74% of executives today think ESG directly affects brand value and competitiveness. Building trust, attracting investment, and improving market positioning today depend heavily on ethical company practices, as seen by this alignment of purpose and profit.
In the broader MENA area, 52% of businesses stated that they supported all three ESG pillars equally, while 83% stated that the social pillar will be given priority in their 2026 ESG strategy. This indicates that stakeholder expectations for concrete, community-focused results are rising.
Even with this velocity, communication is still difficult. There is room for improvement in transparency and consistency reporting, as just 32% of executives said their companies give formal ESG updates.
The MENA ESG Report, currently in its fifth edition, has developed into a crucial instrument for monitoring ESG maturity throughout the region.
The study comes to the conclusion that the UAE’s success depends on integrating ESG principles into every aspect of business, from strategy to execution, guaranteeing that sustainability will continue to be a major force behind corporate and national advancement in the years to come
