DOHA: The GCC region’s private and non-profit sectors remain far from where they need to be in order to be effective partners to governments in driving sustainability, a report on social impact initiatives in the GCC has revealed.
The Consulting company Oliver Wyman surveyed more than 60 business leaders in the region to study the role that private and non-profit sectors across the GCC are playing when it comes to social and environmental sustainability in the region.
The research looked to explore the role governments, international organisations and support networks can play in supporting and driving the growth of this critical new area of focus in the GCC.
The report shows 86 percent of those surveyed strongly agree that immediate action is required to tackle the region’s challenges, particularly when it comes to youth unemployment, CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) emissions and water depletion.
“The findings presented in the report suggest that the region is ripe for real, lasting change,” said Greg Rung (pictured), an Oliver Wyman Partner in the Middle East.
“Awareness about these issues has been growing over the past decade, and the current situation has created a growing sense of urgency and crisis. The journey to effective social and environmental impact is long and too many organizations have yet to take meaningful steps in the right direction.”
Whilst still evolving in the region, the survey showed that a large majority (68 percent) of organisations feel sustainability is a top priority for their senior leadership. Less than a third of survey respondents (30 percent) believe corporations, foundations and NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisation) are currently doing enough to address the issues, and less than half (41 percent) have reassessed the focus and scale of their sustainability programmes in the past two years.
Less than a third (27 percent) have increased their dedicated budgets for sustainability, and as a result, only 40 percent feel that current budgets are sufficient. “The overwhelming consensus regarding the urgency of the region’s social and environmental challenges is concerning, but it also signals an opportunity for meaningful change,”said Rung
To address the issues facing the GCC, the report outlines how ‘regional pioneers’ will be crucial, and how private sector leaders need to show that sustainability can contribute to growth and add a competitive advantage. Integrating sustainability into an organization’s DNA is also a multi-year process that requires significant change management, the report says.
It added that sustainability must be directly linked to the business model for long-term growth and profitability.
“Despite the launch of important governmental reform initiatives in the past two years, it has become increasingly apparent that governments cannot be expected to tackle the region’s social and environmental challenges alone,” noted the report.
Training and empowering staff across the organisation and incentivising ‘sustainability managers’ also needs to be part of an organisation’s strategy, and measurement should also be a top priority, leveraging international reporting guidelines and external support actors.
“There is also room for closer cooperation between the private and nonprofit sectors and governments, as the latter work to put in place crucial policies, laws and regulations that will support and incentivize the growing engagement of their new partners in sustainable development,” added the report.
As per the report ,the sharp drop in the price of oil, by more than 50 percent in the two years from June 2014, has directly and severely impacted both government revenues and national economic activity across the GCC.
This impact has made apparent the weaknesses and unsustainability of the region’s historical development model.
The growing engagement of private and non-profit actors will provide much-needed support and relief to governments, and allow them to rationalize public expenditure by re-focusing on core administrative functions such as strategic public investment and the building of sophisticated public service delivery systems.
