In today’s environmentally conscious world, government organisations and businesses are facing increasing pressure to do their part to preserve the environment, support communities and adopt sustainable measures.
Being environmentally aware and adopting sustainable values and measures not only eases consumers' concerns and attracts talent, it's also good for business.
A study last year by Statista found that consumers are willing to pay an average 24 per cent more for sustainably produced goods. A separate survey by IBM also found that 67 per cent of respondents said they were willing to apply for jobs at environmentally sustainable organisations.
When it comes to driving sustainable and environmental change, corporate communications plays a crucial role in conveying an organisation’s goals and engaging employees, which, in turn, can help to enhance its reputation and gain a competitive advantage.
Start by setting clear targets
A corporate communications team should work with senior management to set clear targets for the business.
Questions to be asked include, but are not limited to: How could our business serve the environment in which we operate in? And how could we engage our employees and stakeholders?
Environmental and sustainability targets could encompass a range of causes such as minimising waste, preserving water, supporting local and young entrepreneurs, volunteering and using recycled products.
After setting targets, the corporate communications team will draw a road map on how and when these targets should be measured.
Drive engagement by effective storytelling
Why should employees care? What does it mean for them if their organisation is supporting cause X or Y? How is their work in the organisation driving environmental change and making their community a better place?
People care when a story resonates with them, when they see how they could be a making a difference.
This is where the power of storytelling comes into play. The narrative should be in line with an organisation’s values and mission and embedded in a way to effectively communicate with stakeholders, clients and the wider community.
This narrative should also be shared across a company's website, internal communications, between management and team members and, most importantly, through the way an organisation conducts its business.
Educate and raise awareness
When working with a client on their corporate social responsibility efforts, we ensured that staff in the wider organisation understood why the company decided to go paperless and why it chose to support youth-led businesses.
We conducted organisation-wide workshops, where environment agency representatives educated employees about the importance of preserving the environment not only in the office, but also beyond.
The corporate communications team also ensured that they sent out regular reports to employees highlighting the positive impact their work has on the environment and in the community.
The goal isn’t to raise awareness once, but to share constant updates so that employees see how their organisation is making a difference and are encouraged to also do the same.
Corporate communication plays a pivotal role in driving environmental and sustainability change
Manar Al Hinai
Acknowledge and reward
When I worked with a government organisation on developing their corporate communications strategy, typical feedback I received from employees was their willingness to make a difference and wanting to lead corporate social responsibility initiatives.
We thus appointed ambassadors from different departments to lead various initiatives.
It was crucial to not only raise awareness about the importance of the environment and sustainability measures the organisation was adopting, but to also acknowledge and reward those who drive and lead the change.
That culture of healthy competition and making a difference had a positive impact on employee morale and they felt their work was more meaningful.
Corporate communications plays a pivotal role in driving environmental and sustainability change, which can enhance overall company culture and help organisations stay ahead of the competition.
Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer and communications adviser based in Abu Dhabi
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Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
By Marion Rankine
Melville House
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Read more about the coronavirus
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Pakistan 106-8 (20 ovs)
Iftikhar 45, Richardson 3-18
Australia 109-0 (11.5 ovs)
Warner 48 no, Finch 52 no
Australia win series 2-0
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The%20specs
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
RESULTS
6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 1 (PA) $49,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner RB Frynchh Dude, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
7.05pm Al Bastakiya Trial – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner El Patriota, Vagner Leal, Antonio Cintra
7.40pm Zabeel Turf – Listed (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,000m
Winner Ya Hayati, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Althiqa, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
8.50pm UAE 1000 Guineas – Listed (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Soft Whisper, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
9.25pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Bedouin’s Story, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
