Dubai Chamber's Centre for Responsible Business to host 'Creating Value through Sustainability Reporting' workshop

In view of this trend, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Centre for Responsible Business in association with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is hosting a two-day Master Class, 'Creating Value through Sustainability Reporting', on January 26 and 27 at its premises.

Conducted by trainers from GRI, Det Norske Veritas and CRB, this Master Class will give participants an opportunity to learn about the sustainability reporting process in detail and its implementation within companies to create value for both internal and external stakeholders.

The first day of the workshop will open with an introduction to sustainability and CSR Reporting initiatives of GRI and GRI 3 guidelines with participants getting a thorough knowledge of stakeholders' engagement techniques and identifying issues to report on. The second day is dedicated to imparting practical knowledge of writing a CSR report using best practice examples of GRI reporting. The highly interactive workshops also provide the opportunity of sharing experiences and networking with co-participants.

The workshop is being organised at a time when companies in the UAE and the region are steadily recognising the value of demonstrating transparency and accountability in all areas of performance. This trend has emerged through increasing global expectations for businesses in the region to take responsibility for their non-financial impacts, including impacts on the environment and the community.

This year, a number of companies in UAE have published their CSR reports in accordance with GRI guidelines and many more are expected to follow suit in the coming years. The GRI is a network of 30,000 individuals from business, civil society, labour, and professional institutions from around the globe that organise and create the content of reporting frameworks to facilitate sustainability or CSR reporting. Across the world, more than 1,000 organisations in over 70 countries use the GRI Guidelines to facilitate their sustainability reporting process. In late 2007, the first CSR report based on the latest GRI G3 framework in the Middle East was published.

Dubai Chamber established the Center for Responsible Business (formerly known as the Dubai Ethics Resource Centre) in 2004 to foster corporate integrity and assist organisations in applying responsible business practices that enhance performance and competitive edge. The Centre does this through the provision of research, training, programmes, events and advisory services that cover all aspects of CSR.