Sal Jafar, CEO of ESG Mena interviewed Mehlam Murtaza, E-Director of UNS Vertical Farms, to find out about how the industry can become more sustainable in the MENA region through thoughtful production and distribution, and well-considered financing.
In an interview with Sal Jafar, CEO of ESG Mena, Prof. Karim Lakhani, Chair of DDDI at Harvard, discusses best practices in academia and the private sector, and shares insights on empowering business leaders to make a meaningful impact.
In an exclusive interview with Sal Jafar, CEO of ESG Mena, Dr. Najwa Aaraj, CEO of Tech Innovation Institution, shares her perspective on the challenges and benefits of integrating AI and sustainability in the Middle East.
In July, the Serbian government reinstated the permits for Rio Tinto’s lithium mining project, after canceling them in 2022 following public protests. The decision triggered demonstrations, with thousands of people taking to the streets of Belgrade over concerns that the mine would pose a threat to water sources and public health. After all, Rio Tinto had already demonstrated its willingness to circumvent the country’s environmental regulations.
Rio Tinto has a long history of alleged human-rights violations and water mismanagement and contamination at its mines around the world. But it is not just Rio Tinto: corruption and negligence are endemic in the mining industry. A US judge ordered Glencore to pay $700 million in fines for its decade-long scheme to bribe officials in several countries. Mining giant BHP and its Brazilian partner Vale are tied up in legal battles over the collapse of the Fundão tailings dam – Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.
As the European Union plans to increase domestic mining of materials that are essential to the green transition, as well as to numerous defense technologies and digital products, policymakers and populations are seeking reassurance that such efforts will be sustainable. To that end, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) – an association that Rio Tinto helped establish and includes Glencore, Vale, and BHP – and other major industry players are working to create a global standard, called the Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative (CMSI), to certify minerals as responsibly produced. Given their track record, can these mining giants be trusted to set their own rules and hold themselves accountable?
Voluntary standards and certifications are hardly new. They exist across a range of industries, from agriculture to construction, and many such initiatives already exist in the mining sector. In fact, the four associations leading the CMSI – the ICMM, the Mining Association of Canada, the World Gold Council, and the Copper Mark – each have their own assurance framework.
But evaluations of these voluntary schemes, conducted by Germanwatch, Mercedes-Benz, and others, have shown that most lack transparency, rigor, and oversight, and cannot ensure that their requirements are implemented. In short, they constitute a sophisticated form of greenwashing. In February, Lead the Charge published an assessment of third-party assurance and accreditation programs in the raw-materials sector, evaluating each one against a series of minimum criteria for credibility. Tellingly, the ICMM’s Performance Expectations Validation process met only 16 per cent of the criteria.
These failing grades have real-world implications for indigenous peoples, workers, and local communities. According to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, ICMM member companies, whether through direct ownership or joint ventures, account for more than half of the 20 firms responsible for the majority of alleged human-rights violations in critical minerals mining.
Policymakers and financial institutions are channeling billions of dollars into mining projects around the world based on voluntary certifications like the proposed CMSI. For example, the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act uses these assurances as a proxy for determining whether companies are responsibly sourcing raw materials. And 78 per cent of automakers evaluated in Lead the Charge’s assessment reported using them to inform sourcing decisions – especially as the uptake of electric vehicles increases
In fact, a recent analysis of the proposed CMSI, conducted by indigenous groups, civil-society organisations, and policy experts, highlights several gaps in the framework that would harm communities and, crucially, pose risks for automakers. The standard is divided into three practice levels: foundational, good, and leading.
But the requirements for the foundational level – which, it should be noted, companies are permitted to fall below during the assurance process – do not align with international laws, legal norms, or widely accepted standards, such as the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards. Mining firms will therefore not be forced to address serious human-rights abuses, which could lead to penalties for automakers down the line.
Moreover, the draft standard does not protect the right of indigenous peoples – who are disproportionately harmed by mining – to free, prior, and informed consent, which is derived from their right to govern their territories and resources and to self-determination. Protecting this right must be a minimum requirement for the foundational practice level. But the very notion that respect for fundamental rights can be broken down and parceled into varying levels of performance reflects the CMSI’s flawed design. This approach would cause even more harm to indigenous communities, given that more than half of critical minerals are on or near their lands.
Despite the efforts of the ICMM and its partners, including CMSI advisory group members like BMW and Tesla, to market the standard as a tool for responsible mining, it is nothing more than an attempt by the industry to present a clean, green face to the public. If successful, the CMSI will consolidate the power and influence of mining giants like Rio Tinto, Glencore, and BHP, and allow them to act with impunity while providing false assurances to all major stakeholders.
Instead of delivering a just energy transition, the CMSI would allow extractive industries to prioritise profit over clean air and water, human rights, and a livable planet, and expose automakers, governments, and investors to reputational risk. Given the increasing demand for minerals to fuel the energy transition, setting high expectations and establishing strong, enforceable rules for the mining sector is more important than ever.
By Chelsea Hodgkins, Senior Electric-Vehicle Advocate in Public Citizen’s Climate Programme.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2024
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In a bid to drive sustainability and innovation, Al Masaood Group’s Projects, Engineering and Services Division (PESD) has signed an exclusive agency agreement for new business partners with Hengst Air Filtration Middle East, the regional branch of the global company Hengst Filtration Germany.
The partnership appoints Al Masaood as the exclusive distributor for Hengst’s gas turbine and turbomachinery filtration solutions in the UAE.
“This collaboration with Hengst reflects Al Masaood’s strategic focus on sustainability and innovation”, said Hani El Tannir, CEO of Al Masaood Group Industrial. “Together, we aim to introduce advanced filtration technologies that support cleaner and more efficient industrial processes in the UAE.”
Hengst, a family-owned company with over 3,700 employees across 26 global locations, is at the forefront of innovative filtration and fluid management solutions. Their groundbreaking carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) technology enables on-site CO2 capture and repurposing, eliminating the need for complex transportation of liquid CO2.
“Partnering with Al Masaood Group is a significant step in bringing our advanced filtration technologies to the UAE”, said Vijay Thomas, Managing Director of Hengst Air Filtration Middle East. “This collaboration reflects our dedication to delivering sustainable solutions that drive innovation and support the transition to a greener, more efficient future.”
“Our advanced solutions, including carbon capture technologies, are designed to meet the growing demand for sustainable industrial practices”, added Lars Krogh, Commercial Director. “We look forward to collaborating with Al Masaood Group to drive innovation and sustainability in the region.”
Marking a significant milestone as the event’s youngest speaker, nine-year-old Fareed Mohammed Felemban, a student of global online education platform 51Talk, delivered a speech at the inaugural Impact Makers Forum. The young environmental advocate from Jeddah, who previously spoke at COP29, showcased the emerging influence of Saudi Arabia’s next generation on the global stage.
Speaking on ‘My Vision for a Green Future’, Fareed presented his insights on environmental protection, drawing from a Saudi perspective. His presentation included practical environmental actions such as tree planting, water conservation, and plastic reduction initiatives, receiving widespread acclaim from the audience.
“Fareed’s journey exemplifies the transformative power of quality online education in developing Saudi youth’s international presence,” said Tom Zeng, MENA GM of 51Talk at 51Talk Saudi Arabia.
“Through platforms like 51Talk, we’re seeing young Saudis like Fareed confidently step onto the world stage. This perfectly aligns with our goal of making quality English education accessible while fostering the next generation of global Saudi voices.”
Since establishing its Middle East headquarters in Saudi Arabia in 2023, 51Talk has helped 400,000 Saudi students enhance their English-speaking abilities through its one-on-one foreign teacher instruction model.
The Impact Makers Forum, organised by the Saudi Ministry of Media, brought together over 300 influencers and industry experts from around the world. The event secured more than 50 cooperation agreements valued at over 1 billion Saudi Riyals, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s growing prominence in the digital influence sector.
Prior to this appearance, Fareed’s presentation at COP29 garnered significant media attention. His participation in the Impact Makers Forum further solidifies his position as Saudi Arabia’s youngest environmental influencer while demonstrating the success of 51Talk’s mission to empower Saudi youth with global communication skills.
To date, the ocean has largely been treated as an afterthought in global climate strategies, sidelined in favor of more visible priorities like renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions. But ocean-based solutions are indispensable to the green transition and must be funded accordingly.
Following the recent 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, we are confronted with one pressing question: What’s next? With countries set to submit early next year their updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, the world has an opportunity – and a responsibility – to take transformative action to address the climate crisis. The ocean must be central to this effort.
Nobody understands this better than small island developing states (SIDS) like Palau. For us, climate policy is not some abstract debate about hypothetical future risks; it is a fight for survival. Already, coral reefs are undergoing bleaching; storms are becoming increasingly frequent and destructive; and droughts are undermining food security. Rising sea levels threaten not just our land, but also our culture, our way of life, and our very existence.
To date, international support for climate action has fallen far short of meeting developing countries’ needs. SIDS collectively receive less than 2 per cent of global climate finance, even as they oversee 30 per cent of the world’s territorial waters. It is a striking imbalance, especially given the ocean’s enormous untapped potential to help mitigate climate change.
The ocean is our planet’s largest carbon sink, absorbing 25 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions and a staggering 90 per cent of the excess heat generated by a warming atmosphere. According to a 2023 report, ocean-based climate solutions can get us as much as 35 per cent closer to our emissions-reduction targets for 2050, on a pathway that limits the global temperature increase to 1.5° Celsius. And mitigating climate change is just the beginning; a healthy ocean plays a pivotal role in creating sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable communities worldwide.
Consider nature-based solutions like the restoration of mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs. Beyond sequestering carbon, these ecosystems act as natural defenses against rising seas and extreme weather, and they form the basis of local livelihoods. In Palau, marine protected areas safeguard biodiversity, support sustainable fisheries, and bolster the tourism industry.
So far, the ocean – including the ecosystems it supports – has largely been treated as an afterthought in global climate strategies, sidelined in favor of more visible priorities like renewable energy and curbs on emissions. The High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy has revealed that many of its member countries – which together govern half the world’s territorial oceans – have yet to integrate the ocean fully into their NDCs.
This omission represents a vital opportunity, which countries should seize as they prepare their NDC submissions before the February deadline. Putting the ocean at the center of our climate strategies would transform it from a silent victim of global warming into an active force for mitigation and resilience-building.
The Blue Economy and Finance Forum takes place in June, one of the “special events” that will set the stage for the third UN Ocean Conference in Nice. The BEFF aims to unlock financing for ocean-based solutions, particularly biodiversity-positive investments that simultaneously support economic development and climate goals. But, as we saw at COP29, public budgets are already stretched thin. Mobilising private capital alongside public investment is thus essential to drive meaningful change.
To understand why, look no further than the shipping industry, which emits more carbon than all but six countries. Critical pieces of the net-zero puzzle are already in place for the industry. Shipping companies are planning their low-carbon transitions. The technologies they need – in particular, “green fuels” like green methanol and ammonia – have been developed. And producers are ready to increase output, while continuing to innovate. And yet scaling up production has proved difficult, because investors still view crucial green technologies as too risky.
This mismatch between ambition and funding underscores the need for creative financing solutions, such as government-backed guarantees or blended-finance instruments. Fortunately, the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, agreed at COP29, offers an opportunity to set ambitious targets and leverage innovative mechanisms to unlock private investment at scale.
Despite its disappointments, COP29 delivered another reason for cautious optimism: the discussions taken there reflected growing recognition that ocean action is climate action. This idea, which began gaining traction in 2019 during the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue at COP25, has evolved into a powerful movement. As a result, momentum is building behind ocean-based climate solutions.
But harnessing this momentum to deliver measurable action – such as the introduction of more marine protected areas covering mangroves and seagrass meadows or scaling up the decarbonisation of the shipping industry – will require collaboration across sectors and borders. And it will require far more financing. As we look ahead to the BEFF and beyond, we must make one thing crystal clear: investing in the ocean is investing in our collective future.
By Ilana Seid, Palau’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Sherpa Co-Chair of the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, and Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for the Blue Economy and Finance Forum.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
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Aiming to deepen participants’ legal understanding of cybercrimes, distinguishing them from traditional crimes, the General Secretariat of the Supreme Legislation Committee in the Emirate of Dubai (SLC) organised an educational workshop titled ‘Criminal Intent in Cybercrime’.
The workshop underscored the approach adopted by UAE legislators in defining criminal intent as a vital prerequisite for prosecuting cybercrimes and imposing penalties. Participants engaged in in-depth discussions on the general concept of criminal intent and its specific applications to cybercrimes. The unique characteristics of cybercrime were explored, alongside the substantive, procedural, and legal challenges these crimes pose.
Attendees also examined the complexities involved in detecting, proving, and attributing cybercrimes to their perpetrators. A key focus of the discussions was the necessity of international collaboration to combat the global proliferation of cybercrime.
“Cybercrimes represent an escalating challenge in the digital age, necessitating the development and implementation of effective strategies to achieve digital and cyber security”, said H.E. Ahmad bin Meshar Al Muhairi, SLC Secretary General.
“This must be complemented by comprehensive legislation specifically designed to address and manage this evolving category of crime. Organising this workshop underscores our commitment to raising legal awareness about cybercrimes, their risks, implications, and the mechanisms required to combat and mitigate them.”
The workshop, led by Dr Yahia Al Adwan, Senior Legal Advisor at the Technical Office of the SLC, brought together a distinguished group of legal and technical specialists from various government entities. Discussions addressed a range of critical topics, including the concept and distinctive characteristics of cybercrime. Participants also explored the evidentiary requirements necessary to establish intent, instances where intent may be absent, and the concept of unintentional error in cybercrime cases.
Al Muhairi highlighted the importance of a well-defined legal framework to determine criminal intent in cybercrime cases. “Such a framework is essential for ensuring accountability, facilitating effective prosecution, and preventing impunity”, he said. “This enhances the efficiency of our legal ecosystems in combating cybercrimes, which pose an escalating threat to the security of nations, communities, and individuals in today’s interconnected world.”
In a bid to drive growth and enhance customer success, Zoom Communications, Inc. has strengthened its long-term commitment to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) with a series of strategic senior appointments made over the past six months.
This includes Steve Rafferty as Head of EMEA GMT, Jim Butler as Head of Northern Europe, Nadja Risse as Head of DACH & CEE, and Christina Daly joined as Head of People Experience EMEA. Together with Michel Habib Aouad, Head of Southern Europe, and Mohannad Talal Alkalash, MEA Leader, as well as other cross-functional and technical leaders, they form the EMEA leadership team.
These senior hires mark a significant step in Zoom’s efforts to solidify its footprint in EMEA, its largest international market outside the US, through deeper local engagement and support at the most senior level. This builds on recent milestones, including new office openings and the inauguration of the Zoom Experience Centre in London. With a focus on localised solutions, robust security, and data sovereignty, the leadership team will work together, along with external Zoom partners, to drive innovation and set the standards for modern collaboration.
Steve Rafferty, as Head of EMEA GMT, oversees Zoom’s EMEA operations. Drawing on extensive experience from his previous role as VP International at RingCentral, where he successfully managed teams across EMEA and APAC and drove a significant increase in market share, Rafferty is well-positioned to capitalise on growth opportunities in the region. His focus will be on uniting internal teams, partners, and customers so Zoom can continue to deliver the best possible service.
Jim Butler leads Zoom’s go-to-market efforts across Northern Europe, which includes the UK, Ireland, the Nordics, and Benelux. In this role, Butler is responsible for managing operations, driving sales strategies, and leading business development initiatives. He joins from Palo Alto Networks, where he worked as Regional Vice President for Western Europe, bringing extensive experience in driving success in local markets.
Nadja Risse drives Zoom’s business operations across the DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) markets. With over two decades of technology sector experience, including local & global senior sales leadership roles at Vodafone, BT, and Genesys, Risse will focus on driving growth, developing new sales strategies, improving regional collaboration, and strengthening relationships with key clients and partners in these markets.
Christina Daly, Head of People Experience in EMEA, is responsible for enhancing employee engagement, driving talent development, and creating a workplace culture that values diversity and inclusion. Having implemented transformational HR strategies previously at LinkedIn, Daly plays a pivotal role in aligning Zoom’s people practices with its mission and values, creating a people-first environment focused on delivering happiness to its workforce.
“With the rapid growth in hybrid working and advances in AI, Zoom has a huge opportunity to help businesses solve many of the challenges they face in driving productivity and collaboration,” said Steve Rafferty, Head of EMEA at Zoom. “We will continue to invest heavily in the region, delivering the highest levels of customer care and working with our valued partners to bring Zoom’s platform to more organisations.”
The MENA region has quickly become a hotspot for major events and tourism, from global conferences, to sporting events, and cultural exhibitions. As the pressure on venues to reduce the environmental impact of major events increases, hosts are looking for impactful and meaningful ways to bring sustainability into the industry.
The Bulb, a sustainability consultancy providing strategies for events and venues to increase their sustainable practices, was founded by Selina Donald in 2016. In November 2024, the company joined Trivandi, a leader in event delivery with a portfolio that includes the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup.
ESG Mena interviewed Selina Donald to find out more about how The Bulb provides critical sustainability expertise to event venues across the MENA region, how to educate and engage people to get involved in recycling and other environmentally-beneficial practices, and how the Trivandi Academy provides training and courses to equip event professionals with the knowledge to support the improvement of the industry.
What is the background of The Bulb? What inspired you to start a sustainability consultancy company?
I founded the bulb in 2016 we’re a sustainability consultancy that advises the event, creative venue and sporting industries, and we were set up off the back of the London 2012 Olympic games. We worked on the opening, closing ceremonies, and were part of the sustainability working group, and realised that there was a real gap in the market for people doing things the way that we did in the games.
We’ve been working across the UK, the US, the Middle East and APAC the last nine years. Last year, we worked on COP28 with the Trivandi team. And Trivandi also comes out of London, 2012 and just the way that we worked, the synergies, the values that we held, everything just seemed to really fit and work really well together.
So we started talking about, how would it be if The Bulb was part of Trivandi? And for me, that was really exciting, because it meant that we would have a bigger infrastructure around us in order to grow, and it also meant that we could start working with Trivandi across these huge events that they excel at delivering, and be able to get sustainability up on that global stage. So in November this year, so we’re only about eight weeks in, we fully. We completed and joined the Trivandi group. We still remain The Bulb, but we are now part of the bigger organisation, and we provide sustainability consultancy still across the event industry, venues, and sporting organisations.
How do you advise people to make events in the MENA region more sustainable using technology, recycling, etcetera?
For National Day, when the United Arab Emirates became one, we’ve been the sustainability leads on that project for the last two years.
Last year, it was the first time that they’d ever had sustainability as a factor, and that was influenced heavily by COP28 and the year of sustainability in the UAE. It was a really great project to work on, because there was the real appetite to look at that. And I think it’s a great example to sort of demonstrate, like, how we build in technology waste management. So technology wise, we use the carbon calculator that’s used specifically for events – you can’t manage what you don’t measure.
We track all of the waste, energy, travel, transportation materials. So the impact of materials, from wood, plastic, different types of timber, metals, everything. It’s all in this carbon calculator, and it allows us to always see what the impact is and where we can make improvements. So that piece of technology, for me, is invaluable.
It also allows us to measure the carbon footprint, and then at the end of the project, be able to produce a report, show the client and make recommendations on next year, how we can do better, which is exactly what we’ve done this year, being able to do the project again, building on what we learn, we can then use that as data to drive that change.
In terms of waste management, that’s kind of tricky. Waste Management in the Middle East is still in development. So there isn’t a lot there are. There are some key players that we’ve worked with several times. But in terms of specialist recycling, composting, being able to recycle woods, metals, all of that, it’s still work in progress.
I think it’s really important to just from the outset, have really clear communication with the waste contractor and be able to build that in with them, understand the boundaries, understand the infrastructure they’ve got, and then be able to adapt your event to fit that.
How are you helping to educate and inform people on the importance of recycling and waste management within the events industry?
It’s people working under pressure and just wanting to get the job done. So it’s already really hard to install, like a new behavior or a system that they’re not used to. First of all, education is key. You don’t know what you don’t know. And I think there, everyone’s on a different learning journey in path.
So we’re adapting that to make sure that we’re really super clear of what can be done in the in the region, and then looking at how we translate that into an event setting, making it really easy, making it really visual, because we’ve got a lot of different languages.
So I’ll use the example again, of the of the Union Day celebration, but we back of house had seven different waste streams with different skips for different waste streams, and we made sure all of the signage was all different colours for each waste stream, even the bin bags, which makes it much easier for the cleaners. And then we made all the signage visual, rather than any language at all, so just pictures of what goes in each which makes it super easy.
I think it’s really important to educate just broader and making people really aware of what kind of what their role is in achieving what might be a bigger goal. So our goal was to create a zero waste to landfill event, as well as health and safety, we also added in sustainability, so no one even got on site before going through sustainability training, which then started to cement it in everyone’s head.
This is important. This is important, and we made it super clear. We showed the visuals of the waste. We made it really clear about what your role is, what you need to do, and if you’ve got any questions, who you go to.
And one of the other big wins that we had is that we removed any single use plastic water bottles from site, which is huge in the Middle East, and we put in these massive tankers, water coolers everywhere. So it was almost more annoying if you didn’t have your refillable bottle, because we made it easy. And then by the end, everyone, crews, suppliers, event producers, everyone had a refillable bottle and was just using the coolers.
And this year, when we did it again, everyone instantly just brought their bottles with them. They knew this is the way it works. And I hope that that translated and trickled down onto other projects that those people are working on as well. You work on one project, you learn a new way of working. You take it to the next one, and it starts to trickle into the industry.
We saved over half a ton of plastic. We avoided wasting half a ton of plastic, which is amazing.
In your experience, have the attitudes of event professionals towards sustainability guidelines been predominantly positive or negative?
I have been working in the Middle East for 10 years, and I’ve seen such a huge change in the last three.
I think what’s really brilliant in the Middle East, I think it’s got to come from leadership across the board, and that’s whether that’s leadership of the country, leadership of the company, leadership of the team.
You know, people react when they see people doing what they’re asking them to do. When the UAE put in the year of sustainability, it’s signalled to the region, this is important. This is what we need you to do.
There are really clear sustainability related national priorities around carbon foot-printing, biodiversity, water scarcity, materials, and it just makes it really clear to people, this is what’s important to us at the region, and we need you and your business to get on board.
And so I’ve seen a real shift. We work with a number of different venues across the Middle East, and they have invested heavily in sustainability, and I think if the venue’s got it right, the event’s got it right. It’s your your foundation.
So that, for me, is really rewarding when we’re working with those venues, because I know it’s going to have an impact on everything that’s happening within that within that venue. So and one of the things that we do as a company is we create guidelines like we call it a sustainability playbook, and it’s like a really easy, practical checklist of how to deliver a sustainable event.
And it might have reference to best practice in the UAE and globally, it might have recommendations via the material, and it’s a really great way for teams to get on board and think really clearly, because it’s sometimes a bit of overwhelming when it comes to sustainability.
How can we make sure the quality of sustainable events is high, rather than just the quantity?
Events are the best way that we can get across who an organisation is, and what they value, what they find important. You know, it’s that connection. It’s just, I never want to not do events. I want to just make the way we do events better, and so I think it’s about making sure that the content is really relevant, almost asking a question of, what’s the purpose of this event, what do we want to achieve?
What is the final outcome of it? And how do we connect with an audience? And is there a way of using this event to inspire and engage an audience into maybe something that we want them to take away? And so I’m starting to think in terms of legacy and takeaways. What do we want people to go away feeling and thinking and doing?
And I think it’s really great when an organisation delivers events, and they’re nothing to do with sustainability, but the way that they deliver it is just sustainable, and conscious and responsible. So they would start to look at where their energy is coming from. They would avoid any nasty diesel generators. They’d be looking at the materials. They’d be getting away from any single use plastic. They’d be thinking about their food and beverage and where it’s come from, and what they’re serving it in, reusable being the best.
But then they’d also maybe be thinking about the social impact, and is there going to be anything left over? Could we donate? Could we engage local community? Do we, if it’s a show, do we get volunteers? Do we give people opportunities, you know, like thinking about the bigger impact and that bigger picture.
For me, it always comes down to, how does this event make an impact on people and a good impact on the planet? I should say, how does it make a good impact on people and no impact on the planet – that is a perfect event.
Are there any specific industries you’d like to drive towards being more sustainable? Why?
I think every sustainability person would love to see the oil industry turn 100 per cent renewable. It would solve a lot of problems. For me, seeing a genuine, authentic shift and transition towards renewable energy and swapping out oil is the most important thing that we can do globally, and so the focus should be on that and doing it in a responsible way.
We all understand how important oil is and how much It’s contributed to moving the world forward to the point that we are at today. And I think we should embrace the opportunity to then transition that into something that protects the world for future generations, and see it in that sense.
Can you tell us a bit about Trivandi Academy and training in sustainability?
What’s been missing is a really professional education around sustainability within the major events industry, and so we identified that that missing gap, and we set up the Triavandi Academy to start looking at how we professionalise the major event industry. Sustainability is going to be one of the exciting modules that we release.
This is going to be a really market leading sustainability course that event professionals, venues, and sporting organisations can send their teams to do, and learn about how you bring sustainability life in these important sectors. We’re going to be using best practice from across the globe, bringing in real key experts.
Nicola Milan, Director of Marketing and Communications with Trivandi added:
Trivandi Academy was established because of the lack of formal qualifications in the major events industry. Other professions, such as lawyers, doctors, etcetera, have formal qualification paths – with major events, people tend to fall into it, and they make it up as they go along.
When major events are brought to the Middle East, which has historically hosted less than other regions, there is a lack of training in the workforce. Trivandi recognised this gap in the workforce and introduced the Academy to up-skill major event professionals.
We’ve launched the first course, which is Major Events 101 – and as Selina mentioned, theres definitely a need for sustainability training and up-skilling, and that’s why we’ve brought that in to help.
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