Sustainable Business

The impact of business on the environment and society is under more scrutiny than ever as we tackle the climate emergency and the impact of global financial crises. Regulation is increasing, and investors are demanding greater transparency on corporate behaviour.

Alongside these challenges lie opportunities. New markets and business streams will open as organisations move towards a sustainable and profitable future.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues are the number one priority for many organisations. We know how exposed many Boards feel in this area, so we’ve put together the best teams with a regional and global outlook to provide the support you need.

With regulation and policy developing quickly across the Middle East and North Africa, Al Tamimi & Company’s lawyers are at the forefront of legal, regulatory and policy developments, advising on some of the most significant ESG matters. The business community has ESG at the top of its agenda, and it is becoming a vital business pillar. Our report issued in 2022, titled Legal Leaders in MENA, highlighted that 94 percent of legal decision-makers occasionally or regularly assess ESG risk and compliance within their role, while 80 percent expect ESG considerations to become more important to their work. We use this information and have put in place an ESG advisory team that works directly with clients to identify the main ESG risks associated with business exposure and to develop action plans to address them.

We can react quickly because we are on the ground, with 17 offices across ten countries, spanning the MENA region. Our teams have established relationships with national and regional governments across the region. When change happens, we are among the first to know.

Our teams have the insight and expertise to help clients mitigate the risks and seize the opportunities these issues present. We support clients across various sectors, including energy and utilities, real estate, education, and capital markets, as they integrate ESG into their strategies and apply it in their operations.

We also bring an international perspective, drawing on global best practices through our involvement in The Chancery Lane Project (TCLP). This collaborative initiative brings together leading lawyers from across the globe to develop climate-aligned legal models and clauses in contracts. Read the Arabic TCLP glossary here. For more details, please contact Francis Patalong.

Our sustainability services are built around four key client challenges

Our services are built around key client challenges that we have identified as a result of us listening to the evolving requirements of our clients and understanding the regional ESG landscape. Fundamentally, the four service areas are designed to ensure our clients have the expertise available to them when assessing their ESG requirements, these can be from transitioning to low carbon operations and accelerating decarbonisation, to fostering sustainability focused corporate governance structures, and even optimizing supply chain management across businesses through robust environmental and social risk management in supply contracts. Our ESG advisory team works with our clients to ensure these and more ESG associated risks are identified and action plans are developed to address the risk.

Learn more about our capabilities on ESG matters here