ESG & CSR

Walking the Talk

ICD is committed to leading by example and will proactively manage our own ESG responsibilities, which are subject to oversight and monitoring by our ESG Management Committee.

ICD continues to seek opportunities within its own operations to reduce our impact on the environment and to ensure that we consume responsibly and minimise waste. In addition we ask all strategic suppliers to align themselves with the requirements of our Supplier Code.

In 2021 we commissioned the first carbon footprint of our operations; this is certified in line with the ISO 14064 Standard and the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and will act as a baseline for future measurement. We are rolling out a number of emission reduction opportunities to work towards being carbon neutral. The impact of these initiatives will be measured against this baseline over time and we will be offsetting any emissions that we are unable to reduce further through the purchase of independently verified carbon credits that lead to additional GHG reductions.

ICD has made a number of efforts to enhance the sustainability of its business operations and help address the threat of climate change. We have adopted a number of measures to minimise energy consumption, promote responsible waste management, and help employees become more environmentally-friendly by actively promoting sustainability awareness through various communication channels.

Investment Principles

Our ESG Policy and Framework, as it relates to ICD’s investment activities, is based on the following key principles:

• • by incorporating ESG into our processes, we can make better investment decisions, associate ourselves with like-minded partners, and enhance the quality and sustainability of our portfolio;
  • ESG factors can have a material impact on the intrinsic value of investments. Companies with strong ESG practices offer prospects for better risk-adjusted returns over the long term as well as increased organisational resilience and effective contribution to wider society as a good corporate citizen; and
  • we subscribe to the view that it is important to adopt a fundamental, bottom-up perspective, rather than a top-down rules-based approach. We believe in engaging constructively with management teams to promote positive change and supporting companies in their transition towards long-term sustainability.

Further details on our investment approach with respect to ESG are provided in Investment Strategy section.

Group Focus on ESG

Members of the ICD Group are increasingly embracing and developing their ESG focus through multiple initiatives across industry sectors including, a few examples are as follows:

Emirates Airlines

Emirates in partnership with a local company has upcycled its first retired A380 aircraft, reducing waste to landfill and environmental impact. Emirates is also working with GE Aviation to conduct a test flight fully powered by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on its Boeing 777 aircraft, and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow coalition.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA)

In 2021, EGA became the first company in the world to produce aluminium commercially using solar power, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with aluminium smelting. EGA’s Jebel Ali smelter was certified to the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative’s (ASI) Performance Standards in 2021. ASI is the leading global authority on ESG performance in the aluminium industry.

ICD Brookfield Place

ICD Brookfield is a joint venture partnership between ICD and Brookfield Asset Management, and ICD Brookfield Place is a landmark building representing a new lifestyle and business destination situated within the vicinity of the DIFC that was awarded “Green Building Project of The Year” at the MENA Green Building Awards during 2021 and achieved the prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum designation.

ICD EXPO Pavilion

70,000 pieces of bamboo were used to create the ICD pavilion at EXPO Dubai 2020 and all natural materials were used for the landscaping; natural grass is used as well trees and plants from the Expo 2020 Dubai nursery. All AV screens, speakers and related equipment will be sustainably repurposed internally within an ICD Group company. Overall 90% of the ICD Pavilion can be repurposed.

One Za’abeel

One Za’abeel, a mixed-use office and residential building, is seeking to achieve LEED Gold certification upon completion with initiatives that will include – employing heat pumps to generate domestic hot water system instead of electric water heaters, installing water-efficient plumbing fixtures aimed at reducing water consumption by up to 20%, recycling construction activity waste and encouraging the use of electric vehicles by providing electric charging stations.

Continual Review

ICD looks forward to embracing and meeting the challenges and opportunities involved in integrating evolving ESG requirements into our business activities. As ESG standards evolve so will our ESG Policy and Framework; these will be subject to periodic review and enhancement to ensure that it remains true to our core values, fit for purpose and aligned with best practices.

As at 31 December 2021, ICD employs more than 20 nationalities; with a ratio of 64%: 36% male to female employees.

ICD also actively engages in supporting the development and retention of talent, and encouraging staff to regularly engage in physical and mental well-being activities.

We continue to support our communities through initiatives that reflect the values that we have as an organisation; these are aimed at ensuring we are, and remain, a good corporate citizen.

We focus our community initiatives on education, innovation and health. In doing so, we are making valuable contributions to the continuing development of an accomplished, healthy and empowered society for the benefit of our stakeholders. We encourage our staff to engage individually with our communities and have committed to providing every employee with additional paid leave for community volunteering activities. Details of ICD’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in 2021 can be found in the CSR section below.

We are a strong advocate for good corporate governance practices that promote transparency, protect against risks, and maintain compliance with applicable regulations, including those relating to ESG matters provided in Governance section.

Over the last year we have:

• • • installed filtered water dispensers throughout the office and provided employees with reusable water bottles to replace single-use plastic bottles;
    • encouraged our employees to recycle waste by introducing recycling bins for plastic, cans, glass, paper, and batteries, and reduce the amount of paper used;
    • introduced environmentally-friendly paper derived from wheat straw as an alternative to traditional tree-based paper; and
    • taken steps to reduce the energy consumption in our office by replacing halogen lights with LED lights and setting the chiller systems to 26°C outside of office hours.

Our progress on ESG issues have only been possible through the efforts of our supportive stakeholders and the achievements of our diverse workforce. We are committed to maintaining a multi-cultural, diverse and inclusive working environment.
 

Corporate Social Responsibility