52% of regional organizations consider technological barriers biggest challenge in achieving environmental sustainability

52% of regional organizations consider technological barriers biggest challenge in achieving environmental sustainability

Comprehensive ESG management platform ‘GBM Istidama’ introduced at IDC Middle East CIO Summit in Dubai

- 13% of regional organizations have sustainability deeply rooted across operations.

- 60% plan to invest between $250,000 and $2 million on sustainability initiatives in 2023.

- 52% identify technological barriers as biggest challenge due to limited access to or knowledge of relevant technologies.

- GBM Istidama launched as an ESG management platform to enable organizations to manage their sustainability programs.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Gulf Business Machines (GBM) revealed top insights from its first sustainability report, where it explored how sustainability has risen to the top of organizations’ agendas, and how companies across sectors are resetting their corporate strategy to cater to this. With the UAE announcing 2023 as the Year of Sustainability, and being the host country for COP28, the focus on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has quickly accelerated within the government’s agenda this year.

The GBM sustainability survey, in partnership with the International Data Corporation (IDC), was conducted among C-suite executives across multiple sectors in UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Egypt. The findings of the survey were released in GBM’s ESG report at the IDC Middle East CIO Summit, which took place in Dubai earlier this