GMG – a global well-being company retailing, distributing and manufacturing a portfolio of leading international and home-grown brands across its sports, food and health sectors has announced the launch of its new sustainability strategy framework. The new framework will enable GMG to make a positive and transformative contribution to the environment and society as a whole as well as to its stakeholders and operations.
The framework which was developed in conjunction with EY, is built around Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles and based on three key pillars: Planet Forward, Spark People and Own Change.
Make a Difference:
The ‘Planet Forward’ pillar is aimed at ensuring that our company actions are geared towards building a better planet for everyone, not just for the business, by tackling energy, water and waste management.
The ‘Spark People’ pillar is focused on ensuring the well-being of employees by supporting their career growth, as well as ensuring equality and their health, safety and well-being.
The ‘Own Change’ pillar aims to inspire people to own and drive change for continuous growth and operational excellence across all of GMG’s business units.
Commenting on the launch of the new sustainability strategy, Mohammad A Baker, Deputy Chairman and CEO of GMG, said: “As a global company, we believe that setting an ESG framework is key to fostering business evolution, mitigating risks and challenges, and most importantly, making a positive and responsible impact on people and the environment. Our values will serve as a compass in guiding our brand, while our sustainability framework will reflect our operational ethos as we continue our global expansion journey.”
Yasir Ahmad, Partner and Leader of Sustainability Services at EY MENA added: “The ‘Make a Difference’ sustainability strategy which is aligned to key global and local sustainability trends, showcases GMG’s commitment to creating positive, transformative change across the region and beyond through its three strategic pillars: ‘Planet Forward, ‘Spark People’ and ‘Own Change.’ These have been developed to address the issues and topics that matter most to GMG and its stakeholders and create a positive and long-lasting impact.”
Alignment to Sustainability Goals:
GMG’s sustainability strategy is aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across its global operations as well as the UAE’s own sustainability goals. The UAE has set up a National Committee on SDGs to facilitate the alignment of SDGs across the private and public sectors and has embedded SDGs into its national agenda.
The twelve countries across which GMG operates are already making headway with their national sustainability agendas, including three of its key markets – the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. The UAE became the first country in the Gulf to launch an SDG Data Hub to actively track and monitor progress made toward SDGs. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 includes a series of objectives and programs that overlap with the UN agenda. For example, the Kingdom has developed the National Renewable Energy program to diversify its energy sources and embrace clean energy. In Singapore, the government has integrated SDGs into its Green Plan 2030.
GMG will publish its first sustainability report early next year that will reveal the company’s performance across ESG pillars, highlight key achievements, and set the direction for the future.
