Sustainability
Driving the National
Sustainability Agenda
Commitment to sustainable development is at the heart of the United Arab Emirates vision for its future
As a Government of Dubai Authority, DMCC is the world’s most interconnected free zone and the leading trade hub for commodities, proud to sustain and grow Dubai’s position as the place to be for global trade.
We understand that our role in enabling trade influences economies which puts us in a position to safeguard communities and the local environment. The multidimensional nature of DMCC's influence provides a unique opportunity to champion responsible business and positive impact.
Executive Statement
“
The way we conduct our business today will have an impact on the world we live in tomorrow. As a government authority, and the world’s leading free zone, we have long recognised this and placed sustainability at the core of our strategy. We have a responsibility to support the UAE and Dubai’s economic diversification agenda while ensuring we conduct our business in a sustainable way for the benefit of all our stakeholders. ”
Sustainability Strategy
Our strategy development is based on a four-phased approach launching with materiality assessment to establish the foundation in alignment with stakeholders’ needs, followed by an internal review, peer and gap analysis conducted to identify our future objectives and areas of improvement. Our purpose, values and goal serve as a basis for the strategy that is influenced by six key factors:
OUR VISION
To consolidate Dubai’s position as the
centre of global trade
OUR VALUES
Innovation and interconnection
guided by our 5C sustainability principles
OUR MISSION
To become the indispensable partner
and preferred destination for progressive businesses
5C Sustainability Framework
Developed with our stakeholders, the sustainability framework reflects the alignment between social and environmental impact and business purpose. The framework is based on three pillars underpinned by the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
CONNECT
CONNECT
To share a diverse set of stakeholders to grow the network and share best sustainable business practices.
CATALYSE
CATALYSE
Action, build capacity, and advocate for sustainable business practices using the position of the globally recognized free zone.
COMMUNICATE
COMMUNICATE
Through annual reporting on sustainability practices to drive thought leadership in the industry.
CAPACITY BUILD
CAPACITY BUILD
By educating internal and external stakeholders to build knowledge around sustainable business practices.
CARE
CARE
By dedicating 0.5% of the company’s net profit to global projects chosen in line with specific SDGs.
Optimise organisational policies and procedures
- Procurement practices
- Human rights
- Training and development
- Wellbeing
- Gender equality
- Diversity and inclusion
- Emiratisation
- Governance
- Customer excellence
- Economic performance
Create a resilient foundation for positive impact
- Customer privacy
- Data protection & security
- Responsible sourcing
- Innovation
- Digitalisation
- Compliance
Track and improve impact locally
- Infrastructure
- Energy
- Water
- Waste management
- Green buildings
- Health & safety
- Community
SOCIAL IMPACT
Entrepreneurship
Gender Equality
Community
UNDERPINNED BY THE SDGS
DMCC makes an impact through its commitment to the Women Empowerment Principles and identifies equality as a primary pillar for its social impact programme.
DMCC makes an impact through escalating its community and holding suppliers to a higher standard.
DMCC makes an impact by enhancing its community infrastructure and supporting innovation and education in African countries.
DMCC makes an impact by improving its community as a safe and more sustainable district with a focus on smart mobility.
DMCC makes an impact by reducing waste in JLT and integrating responsible procurement practices.
DMCC makes an impact by setting baselines, measuring its footprint and identifying areas of improvement through strategic partnerships.
DMCC makes an impact by advancing its regulatory compliance and legal functions with a zero tolerance policy to corruption
DMCC makes an impact by leveraging its convening ability as a government authority, a free zone, and a Master Developer for good.
Materiality Assessment
We increased stakeholder engagement, surveys, face-to-face interviews, and interactive workshops.
Materiality assessments help organisations to prioritise sustainability topics to create maximum impact. We conducted our second materiality assessment exercise, with the results synthesised in a matrix, highlighting the importance of each topic in descending order to inform organisation’s strategy.
Score: 170 - 172
Anticorruption
Human Rights
Score: 160 - 169
Energy
Governance & Succession Planning
Score: 154 - 159
Green Buildings
Water Use
Waste Management & Reduction
Climate Change and Energy
Economic Performance
Community and Giving
Ethical Business
Customer Satisfaction and Engagement
Conduct Governance and Leadership
Labour Practices
Talent Attraction, Development and Retention
Occupational Health and Safety
Waste Management
Supply Chain Sustainability and Responsible Sourcing
Water Effluents
SIGNIFICANT
MID
SIGNIFICANT
SIGNIFICANT
HIGHLY
SIGNIFICANT
SIGNIFICANT
Increasing Influence to DMCC
Value Chain
We recognise that every dimension of our value chain has potentially negative and positive impacts. Therefore, we see it as our responsibility to share the complexity of DMCC’s ecosystem concerning its stakeholders.
Build Markets
& Facilitate Trade
Tea & Coffee
Packaging
Blending
Storage
Roasting
Transportation
Commercial Space
Learning Hub
Blending
Storage
Roasting
Transportation
Commercial Space
Learning Hub
Diamonds
Dubai
Diamond
Exchange
Diamond
Exchange
Governance
Tender facilities
Industry advocacy
Mediation
Tender facilities
Industry advocacy
Mediation
Kimberley
Process
Process
Export/import of
rough diamonds
Financial Services
DMCC Tradeflow
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange
Shariah Asset Management
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange
Shariah Asset Management
Gold
Gold accreditation standards
DMCC Vault
UAE Gold Bullion Coins
DMCC Vault
UAE Gold Bullion Coins
Create Safe &
Prosperous Communities
Property
Portfolio
Uptown
One JLT
Jewellery &
Gemplex
Office solutions
Retail
Plots of land
Warehouse solutions
One JLT
Jewellery &
Gemplex
Office solutions
Retail
Plots of land
Warehouse solutions
Management
& Regulation
Regulatory framework
Health & Safety
Security
Energy, Waste and Water
Transportation
Health & Safety
Security
Energy, Waste and Water
Transportation
Engagement
Events
Parks and recreation
Festivals
Volunteering
Parks and recreation
Festivals
Volunteering
Register &
License Companies
Services
Setting up
Registration
Visa handing
Insurance
Audit
Banking
Visa handing
Insurance
Audit
Banking
Supporting
Ecosystem
Networking
Training
Mediation
Compliance
Regulation
Help centre
Training
Mediation
Compliance
Regulation
Help centre
Build Markets
& Facilitate Trade
Tea & Coffee
Packaging
Blending
Storage
Roasting
Transportation
Commercial Space
Learning Hub
Blending
Storage
Roasting
Transportation
Commercial Space
Learning Hub
Financial Services
DMCC Tradeflow
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange
Shariah Asset Management
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange
Shariah Asset Management
Diamonds
Export/import of
rough diamonds
rough diamonds
Kimberley
Process
Process
Governance
Tender facilities
Industry advocacy
Mediation
Tender facilities
Industry advocacy
Mediation
Dubai
Diamond
Exchange
Diamond
Exchange
Gold
Gold accreditation standards
DMCC Vault
UAE Gold Bullion Coins
DMCC Vault
UAE Gold Bullion Coins
Register &
License Companies
Services
Setting up
Registration
Visa handing
Insurance
Audit
Banking
Visa handing
Insurance
Audit
Banking
Supporting
Ecosystem
Networking
Training
Mediation
Compliance
Regulation
Help centre
Training
Mediation
Compliance
Regulation
Help centre
Create Safe &
Prosperous Communities
Property
Portfolio
Uptown
One JLT
Jewellery & Gemplex
Office solutions
Retail
Plots of land
Warehouse solutions
One JLT
Jewellery & Gemplex
Office solutions
Retail
Plots of land
Warehouse solutions
Management
& Regulation
Regulatory framework
Health & Safety
Security
Energy, Waste and Water
Transportation
Health & Safety
Security
Energy, Waste and Water
Transportation
Engagement
Events
Parks and recreation
Festivals
Volunteering
Parks and recreation
Festivals
Volunteering
Sustainable City
Our environmental conservation efforts are directly in line with the Dubai Plan 2021 that prioritises the city’s resources, including sustainable use of energy, green infrastructure, and providing residents with a clean and healthy environment.
Energy, Water and Waste Management
DMCC adopted company-wide sustainability guidelines for the effective management of energy, water, and waste and released a sustainability policy statement supported by the sustainability management programme. We constantly track the data on our community and own assets through a digital platform, set objectives and KPIs to help track our progress and improve on monthly basis.
DMCC’s Smart and Sustainable District
Improvements in mobility and green building standards are critical material topics for us and are managed through KPIs distinguished by our sustainability scorecard, processes under DMCC’s sustainability guidelines and objectives under the ‘Smart and Sustainable District Strategy’.
Health and Safety
DMCC prescribes to international standards like the British Safety Council and the implementation of Nebosh training to mitigate risks and prevent critical hazards.
Responsible Business Ecosystem
We are aware of our sphere of influence, and the impact we have on the lives and livelihoods of stakeholders. Therefore, we uphold the highest standards of ethical management to create a resilient foundation for positive impact. Our foundation is based on our task force members, internal policies, and guidelines. We continuously ensure our standards are improved and aligned with legal updates, and international governing bodies. We take care of our ecosystem through knowledge sharing, periodic inspections, and open communication.
COMPLIANCE
Effective compliance is intrinsic to our anticorruption efforts in line with our commitment to the United Nations Global Compact. Our compliance efforts extend to member companies. We assess both internal business risks and identify mitigation factors that can reduce them.
DIGITAL SECURITY
DMCC constantly adopts innovative technology tools to enhance internal security and safety of our customer’s data in line with GDPR.
SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN
We understand that our responsibility to protect these fundamental rights goes beyond our operations and that we must also look at our supply chain. We acknowledge the importance and impact of our internal procurement. Additionally, as facilitators of trade, our customers and partners look to us for supply chain best practices and guidelines.
Operational Excellence
Our governance structure is designed to achieve optimal organisational policies and procedures to create an environment where our employees and customers can thrive. Our relationship with stakeholders is a priority, and we recognise that their success leads to ours.
We prioritise customer service, the development and well-being of people, diversity and inclusion, and economic prosperity. Improving DMCC’s operations results in the highest quality of service for our stakeholders.
CUSTOMER SUCCESS
Our customers come first and hence we put emphasis on our operational excellence to ensure the customer is protected and interactions are seamless. We do this by providing world-class customer service, products and digital tools for managing businesses of our members.
ETHICAL GOVERNANCE
We uphold the highest standard of ethical management. We keep our governance structure, rules and guidelines updated. Updating our governance ensures there is a supportive framework behind our work. An SDG steering committee governs the development and implementation of sustainability strategy.
DEVELOPMENT & WELLBEING
We support the UAE’s commitment to health and wellbeing under its National Program with a plethora of activities offered to employees, residents and customers. We encourage the constant development of our people, and therefore, we offer a variety of learning opportunities and become more innovative with our approach every year.
Social Impact
We follow the UAE’s lead to be a generous and responsible global citizen. The UAE has committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and has set up governance structures to facilitate a sustainable trajectory. We followed the best practice by creating a sustainability board. In 2019 we reached a milestone when we decided to allocate 0.5% of the company's annual net profit towards social impact. We have also formalised our impact through the creation of the Social Impact Policy, assuring community investment goals are clear and focus on:
Gender
Industry
Innovation &
Infrastructure
Sustainable
Cities &
Communities
