Majid Al Futtaim, the major shopping mall, retail and leisure developer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and a member of WorldGBC’s Corporate Advisory Board, has become the first Middle Eastern company to adopt a Net Positive sustainability strategy.

The strategy aims to significantly reduce the company’s water consumption and carbon emissions to the extent that it puts more back into the environment than it takes out, resulting in a positive corporate footprint by 2040.

It will see Majid Al Futtaim, which is also the first official Partner of WorldGBC’s MENA Regional Network, implement methods to reduce its carbon and water impact through a series of projects at all its assets across the Middle East and North Africa region. These projects will range from small scale energy efficiency measures and on-site renewable energy installations to on-site rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling. In the long term, Majid Al Futtaim will create positive impact by providing more accessible and better quality water to local communities where it has extracted water for business purposes.

The strategy was launched earlier this week in the presence of Dr. Thani Ahmad Al Zeyoudi, the UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment. He hailed the company’s Net Positive commitment as, “a landmark step in helping to create a more sustainable future for our region,” and highlighted that “collaboration with the private sector is key to realising our sustainability goals and promoting a shared responsibility for our environment.”

Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer at Majid Al Futtaim, said:

“We see it as not only a moral imperative, but also a core responsibility to our stakeholders to set the standard for sustainable development in the region and to continually strive to become one of the most environmentally considerate companies in the world.

“We are extremely proud to be the first company in the Middle East to commit to such a target and hope our action inspires others in the region follow suit.” 

Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi, Head of Sustainability at Majid Al Futtaim, added:

“Becoming Net Positive is the next ambitious goal that we have set and we are fully committed to achieving it by 2040. In doing so, we will help provide a framework to ensure the private sector becomes a force for good, further protecting our shared resources in a region that faces challenges around water scarcity and energy consumption.”

The Net Positive movement was developed through the work of the Net Positive Group, a collaboration formed by Forum for the Future, The Climate Group and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to encourage businesses to transform their sustainability ambitions from doing less harm to becoming Net Positive.

See the video below from Majid Al Futtaim introducing its new strategy: