Jotun Paints UAE, the market leader in the decorative, protective, and marine paints market in the MEIA region has undertaken sustainability goals as part of the group’s efforts to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UAE’s 2030 sustainability targets.
As part of this initiative, employees of Jotun Dubai recently celebrated a Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) day connecting with nature, while learning about sustainability in a fun and unique manner.
The Jotun UAE team spent an entire day connecting with Mother Earth at the Ghaf forest located in Dubai’s Mushrif Park, learning about sustainability, Jotun’s goals and how they can contribute towards it, in collaboration with Aventura Parks and Goumbook.
The Aventura Parks is Dubai’s largest zipline adventure park, spanning 35,000 square meters of Ghaf tree forest. The Jotun team were able to understand the natural ecosystem of the deserts of the UAE while learning the importance of sustainable methods and processes.
Members of the Goumbook, a Dubai-based boutique sustainability agency that empowers companies to define and achieve their sustainability goals (SDGs), through education, capacity building, and consulting, were also present at the venue to explain sustainable living in the UAE and how Jotun’s employees can contribute towards that.
Kjetil Urheim, General Manager, Jotun Paints UAE, was also part of this experience and he added, “As market leaders, we take on this responsibility and aim to lead by example. We have recently launched the Eshara initiative that will allow us to replace the use of approximately 78,000 5-gallon plastic dispensers with a water system that converts moisture in the air into clean, drinking water. With such initiatives, we aim to make sustainability a part of our company’s ethics. We will continue to work towards these goals while constantly empowering our employees on how they can contribute towards them in their own ways.”
In addition to the latest water initiative, sustainable alternatives in Jotun’s packaging will aim to reduce plastic consumption by 11.2 metric tonnes annually while digitisation of processes through digital applications will drastically reduce the use of paper within the premises.
Natacha Seker, Education and Collaboration Leader at Goumbook, who designed and coordinated the event, commented, “With HSE day organised with Goumbook, the employees had the opportunity to connect with nature and feel grateful about it. They learnt about the local environment and the UAE national tree: the Ghaf. They planted Ghaf seeds, had an educational walk into the Ghaf forest and enjoyed painting Ghaf, unleashing their creativity. By connecting them to UAE’s nature at a grassroots level, the impact of sustainability is understood better and gives one the sense of responsibility towards it.”
Jotun’s own sustainability goals include a 50% reduction in carbon footprint* and 70% renewable electricity by 2030 and a focus on reducing their impact on the entire value chain, including a reduction in waste, water, and external transport. This is also in tandem with UAE’s sustainability goals of 2030 of renewable and clean energy, and water and energy savings.
Within the organisation itself, many steps have been taken as part of working towards these goals. Jotun is increasing its efforts to ensure sustainable production and consumption across all its facilities by reducing wastage and engaging in more efficient and safe waste management. Additionally, Jotun is reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its entire supply chain through conscious initiatives with stakeholders and developing more innovative and durable paint products.
By working towards its own sustainable goals, Jotun UAE aims to continually contribute towards UAE’s sustainability Goals of 2030.