DUBAI: Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has signed the United Nations Global Compact for Sustainable Development, signalling the fulfilment of membership to the UN in this regard. The achievement was made following the full alignment of RTA’s sustainability reports with the UN goals that address global challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, peace, justice, human rights and the fight against corruption. It reflects RTA’s commitment to the ten principles of the Charter in these fields.
His Excellency Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA, hailed this achievement as it reflects RTA’s global standing in establishing sustainable development structures. He described stainability as an inherent culture of RTA since inception. “These efforts stem from RTA’s unwavering commitment to its current and future responsibilities and the substantial contributions it had made to achieve sustainable development. RTA will continue endeavours to improve business and operations to achieve its strategic objectives at all levels,” he noted.
“RTA’s vision of Safe and Smooth Transport for All covers all aspects of sustainable development and we are always keen to encapsulate it in our plans and operations. Therefore, we see to it that our services, products and projects contribute to realising that vision. Meanwhile, we attach due consideration to the changing needs of the targeted audience, environmental issues, human-related aspects and updates of Dubai’s plans and ambitions. Since RTA is fully committed to sustainability, we are committed to ensuring that our projects are sustainable, and have minimal environmental, economical and social impacts,” he confirmed.
85 Initiatives
“Obtaining the membership of the United Nations Global Compact for Sustainable Development underscores the massive efforts of RTA in preparing sustainability reports since 2015, and bringing them in line with the global standards for sustainability reporting (GRI standards). RTA made a ground-breaking achievement by topping GRI-compatible sustainability reports in 2018, rendering it the first entity in roads and transport industry to make such achievement worldwide. RTA’s reports are supported by Reasonable Assurance Statement, which indicates sustainability has become an integral part of RTA’s operations,” said Nasser Abu Shehab, CEO of Strategy and Corporate Governance, RTA.
RTA managed to surpass the objective of reducing costs by 14% and maximising revenues by 5%. In the social front, customers & employees happiness and community development figure out in RTA’s key goals. In 2018, RTA contributed to 85 social responsibility initiatives. Cooperation is in hand with public and private entities to benefit more than 300 thousand community members.
“In the environmental aspect, RTA is aware of its responsibility towards conserving the environment for future generations. This drive is translated into environmental-friendly practices, improved monitoring levels, and exercising a higher control over the impacts of RTA’s processes, especially carbon emissions. RTA’s efforts contributed to reducing carbon emissions in 2018 by 1.71% compared with 2017 thanks to the implementation of energy-saving initiatives,” added Abu Shehab.
Step Forward
Joining the UN Global Compact for Sustainable Development is a step in RTA’s sustainability drive, which was crowned by the issuance of Sustainability Framework 2019. In the economic and social aspect, RTA managed to maximise revenues by 5% of the approved budget for that year and boost the satisfaction of contracted parties to 87%. It also increased the share of public transport to 18.1% and recorded a 99.3% response to emergency cases coupled with a drop of 0.05% in the fatality rate. RTA’s community satisfaction rating increased to 85.92% and customers satisfaction rating clocked 92.39%.
In the environmental aspect in 2019, RTA’s sustainable transport initiatives resulted in financial savings as much as 55 million dirhams. It saved 102 equivalent tons of carbon dioxide emissions and made water savings of 45 million gallons. It also reduced energy consumption by 39,000 kilowatts per hour and 30 million litres of fuel. As part of its commitment to the Global Compact for Sustainable Development, RTA has to submit an annual report about the progress made in achieving the ten principles, which showcases its transparency in this regard. BIZ TODAY MONITOR
