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Dubai companies renege on CSR promises

ARABIAN BUSINESS - 20.08.04

Dubai is lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) according to a recent survey.

The survey, conducted by MVM Events Dubai, revealed that only 18% of companies in Dubai had increased their awareness of CSR issues relating to corporate events in the past 12 months.

"A year ago our survey showed that only 10% of the region's companies had a CSR eco-policy when organising events," commented managing director of MVM Group, Richard Beggs.

"A staggering 87% of companies stated that they would be considering CSR ecological issues more over the next five years, when organizing events. However, according to the latest survey results not much has changed," he added.

Dubai falls far behind London based companies who recorded a 34% rise in awareness of CSR issues and dramatically behind Australia which recorded a 58% rise.

MVM also discovered that only 15% of respondents in Dubai claimed that significant media attention regarding conferences and events had influenced them to implement a CSR strategy compared with 22% in London and 34% in Sydney.

But Dubai is not the only destination to have failed to live up to its promises: it was concluded by MVM that while the UK is aware of the importance of the environment, companies are simply spending time discussing the issue, rather than implementing strategies.

Australia has proven to be far more concerned and proactive in adopting positive ecological practices, according to the survey's findings.

"CSR is quickly becoming a buzzword in the region, with many companies talking about environmental issues," Beggs added.

"However, we need to ensure that companies based here don't take the same road as their counterparts in the UK by continuing to discuss the issue without positive action. They need actively drive CSR and environmental policies."

MVM expressed a desire to work with clients who were ready to go green and organize events with minimal footprints.

It claims to have the only eco-specialist in the region who conducts environmental audits of events and works with clients aiming to best leverage their CSR responsibility.