Businesses want a green deal for Middle East ahead of COP28

Businesses want a green deal for Middle East ahead of COP28

With Dubai hosting COP28 later this year, businesses are calling for a new green deal for the Middle East that includes some form of climate legislation, akin to the Inflation Reduction Act adopted by the US, with incentive packages to boost green growth in the region.

The finding is part of a new PwC Middle East survey, which polled business leaders from various industries across the region to determine the ESG (Environmental, social and governance) landscape and the challenges companies are facing in achieving this transformation.

According to the report, 64% of the survey respondents have adopted a formal ESG strategy in the last 12 months, while many are embedding ESG priorities across their organisations.

This has been described as a ‘seismic shift’ in policy according to Stephen Anderson, PwC Middle East’s Strategy and Markets Leader, with last year’s figures indicating that only 21% of the respondents had adopted an informal ESG strategy that was never documented.

The survey also revealed that more than 60% of businesses want leadership to increase the time they allocate to ESG-related issues, with risk management, compliance, and leveraging the circular economy featuring as top priorities for the year ahead.

Yet, even as companies are open to adopting an ESG