UAE’s state-owned utility service provider, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has shared its best practices and success stories in supporting the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 through an initiative entitled “SDG Action”.
Through SDG Action, DEWA aims to highlight its global excellence and continuous efforts to attain the wise leadership’s vision to build a more sustainable environment as well as develop long-term solutions to challenges in accordance with the UN SDGs.
SDG Action is a publishing initiative launched by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) to support the UN’s Decade of Action, the global effort to mobilize governments, businesses and civil society to deliver the SDGs.
The website targets sustainability practitioners from all sectors and attracts around 15,000 readers monthly globally. DEWA’s articles have been published in both the online and printed editions of SDG Action, alongside contributions from world-renowned experts.
Since 2016, DEWA has strived to align its efforts with the SDGs according to an approach that helps it to achieve them effectively. DEWA has reviewed all 169 targets to identify those, which are best placed to contribute in the short, medium and long term in addition to promoting triple-bottom-line sustainability.
DEWA has prioritized six goals including ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’, ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’, ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’, ‘Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure’, ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’, and ‘Climate Action’, to achieve the position as a pioneering utility service provider for the water and energy sectors.
In 2018, DEWA worked on an exercise to map its projects and Key Performance Indicators against the UN SDGs to capture its contribution to the goals. The results were reviewed and verified by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). The results showed that DEWA’s Key Performance Indicators and activities of its divisions contribute to 15 out of 17 SDGs. In 2020, DEWA started a project to update and review the mapping exercise to strengthen its contribution to the SDGs.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer MD & CEO – DEWA
“As members of the UN Global Compact, we support the UN’s role in achieving the SDGs. Our plans, initiatives, and programs align with the UN SDGs. DEWA achieved significant results in the Sustainability Culture Indicator with an average of 91.2 percent in 2020, exceeding the global average for corporates. It is based on the principles of achieving sustainability, strategic commitment, innovation in the field of sustainability, training, and raising awareness regarding sustainability.”
DEWA plays a pioneering role in protecting the environment through increasing the use of clean and renewable energy as part of its social responsibility and commitment to achieve the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100 percent of the emirates total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.
In recognition of its efforts in sustainable development and its efforts to support the UAE in achieving the UN SDGs, DEWA was honored with the UN SDGs Challenge by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) award in 2021.
