HE Dr al-Sada, along with other senior officials of QP, at one of the exhibition booths at the Ritz-Carlton of 36 participating companies of QP’s sustainability reporting initiative. The aims of the energy and industry sector sustainability programme for 2014 include the issuance of public sustainability reports by 75% of participating companies, no later than May 2015.
By Santhosh V Perumal/Business Reporter
Qatar, which is all set to launch the sustainability data management system (SDMS), has asked the companies in the energy and industry sectors to complete their five-year sustainable development strategies, with well defined performance targets.
The aims of the energy and industry sector sustainability programme for 2014 also include the issuance of public sustainability reports by 75% of participating companies, no later than May 2015.
“It is time that sustainability becomes a dedicated process by all companies and across the entire energy and industry spectrum. The sustainable development programmes are mature enough but it is not the whole story,” Energy and Industry Minister HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada said, launching the 2013 report on sustainability within the Qatar energy and industry sector.
“It is a journey we have started. We are happy with the progress but not complacent,” he said, calling upon the participating companies to complete their five-year sustainable development strategies with well-defined performance targets.
Meanwhile, Saif S al-Naimi, director HSE Regulations and Enforcement Directorate (DG), said: “We are committed to providing the support necessary for 28 companies, 75% of the sector, to release a public report in 2015.”
He said the future plans include the launching of SDMS, an online tool for all companies to securely gather, store and verify their sustainability data and information as well as benchmark their performance while maintaining confidentiality.
“We shall continue to pursue our sustainability journey, being wise in the exploitation of our natural resources, being foresighted, and executing our responsibilities with diligence,” al-Sada said.
The ambitions of the (energy and industry) sector require further improvements, which include intensified integration of sustainability strategy and performance oversight at the executive and board levels and achievement of substantive increase in levels of internal and external assurance of qualitative and quantitative information.
It will also include more proactive, systematic and extensive engagement with employees, contractors, communities, partners, policy makers and international stakeholders to drive enthusiasm and commitment towards sustainable development and the economic, human, social, health and safety and environmental performance aspirations of the sector, he added. Elaborating on the future initiatives, al-Naimi said it will include reviewing the sector reporting guidelines to provide clear definitions of reporting terms, to help drive consistent measurement and reporting of all indicators, thus improving data comparability.
