Dubai Chamber highlights its green initiatives at World Chambers Congress
Showcases CSR and green initiatives to a global audience of world chambers on the concluding day of the Congress in Kuala Lumpur
Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry showcased its corporate social responsibility and green initiatives to a global audience of leading world chambers on the concluding day of the 6th World Chambers Congress held in Kuala Lumpur. Organised by ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF) under the theme of “Leading Sustainable Growth and Change”, Dubai Chamber exchanged ideas for future collaborations to address global challenges which affect business such as climate change.
After his brief introduction to Dubai Chamber’s role of a pioneering chamber in the region and environmental issues in the UAE, HE Eng Hamad Buamim, Director General of the Chamber in his presentation on “Chambers and the Environment”, spoke about what Dubai Chamber was doing to improve its environmental performance and that of the business community. He recommended inter-regional and global chambers cooperation under the auspices of the ICC.
Buamim stressed on the private sector to find affordable solutions to climate change and to explore ideas on creating a database of suppliers who offer greener products and services which would consequently promote them among consumers. He also proposed creating a carbon calculation tool to measure the level of harmful greenhouse gas emissions for companies who could take steps to make substantial improvements.
The Director General proposed programmes to encourage energy efficiency, renewable energy and green buildings, in light of the Chamber’s participation in the Dubai Hamburg Business Forum late last year in Hamburg as he said that the Dubai delegates benefitted from their German counterparts’ green initiatives.
He informed the world chambers leaders that Dubai Chamber aims to lead by example and be a model for other organisations in the region therefore it is implementing a number of improvements under its corporate social responsibility by capturing water condensation from air-conditioning to be used for the water fountain and other systems, using recycled water from the washrooms for gardening and allocating designated parking areas for eco-vehicles.
As Dubai Chamber has one of the greenest buildings in the Emirate, Buamim informed that the Chamber is committed to the rationalization of energy and water consumption and has been successful in reducing its energy consumption by 47% saving $1.5 million in the past decade while the water consumption was reduced by 77% thus saving $463,000 during the same period.
In his recommendation to enhance global chambers’ performance, Buamim said that the strengthening of cooperation between the world chambers of commerce would be a win-win for all organizations as he suggested three ways to achieve this objective which could include benchmarking CSR initiatives and sharing best practices; launching an inter-chamber forum linked to the ICC website which could be a virtual forum for CSR champions to share various themes on climate change and community engagement; and to collaborate with ICC to ensure businesses have a voice during international negotiations. This would allow the ICC to represent issues from all corners of the globe.
Dubai Chamber has also submitted a bid to host the international Chamber Congress in 2013. This proposal for hosting the Congress is based on the Emirate’s unique accessibility and excellent infrastructure.
As a Diamond sponsor of the Congress, Dubai Chamber participated with an attractive booth which disseminated information about the Chamber’s initiatives as well as services and facilities offered to its members and the investment opportunities available for the international business community in the various economic sectors in Dubai.
The Congress that is held biannually in different regions of the world was attended by leaders of over 100 chambers of the world representing 14,000 global chambers. The event opened the doors to countless new business ties and partnerships by offering networking opportunities as the participants benefitted from the insights of world renowned speakers, experts and influential leaders talking about the current financial situation and their strategies in dealing with the crisis as well as key issues like sustainable growth with focus on global trends in climate change, demographics, migration and industrialization.
In addition to the plenary sessions there were 16 workshops on business, development and chamber issues highlighting the key challenges faced by businesses today from the effects of globalization on small-to-medium-sized enterprises to corporate governance, counterfeiting and empowering women in business.
