Khader urges building ethics, culture of sustainability

02 / 03 / 2023

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• Responsible Companies
• Sustainable Development

Maali Qasem Khader, CEO & Founder of Schema Advisory, called for building ethics and culture of sustainability, noting that the drivers of sustainability differs among countries and even among sectors.

She said “We have to teach ethics,” adding that she was frustrated by the ethical policies, structures and guidelines.

She expounded that the matter is “about building the culture and not just the practice, transforming the way people think about sustainability and integrating sustainability into the bottom line.”

Therefore, she decided to work on corporate governance in the region and that the company set out the first CSR and sustainability advisory service in the region; it covers 17 countries, including francophone and GCC countries. The company came up with the conclusion that it should focus on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG).

She highlighted the importance of looking at the value of CSR, Sustainability and ESG to an organization.

“Whether today or tomorrow, every impact that an organization has or an individual has will affect our bottom line. Whether we liked it or not, it is a fact. The more we are prepared to deal with it, the better we will be in handling it,” she said.

Asked about the region’s motivation for sustainability now, she said the drivers for sustainability are different in every country and across the sectors, but to sum it up the number one driver is regulation in order to encourage companies to report and disclose. Secondly comes investors and lastly is globalization.

She expounded that things are changing sometimes because it is a must and sometimes because it is a culture.

Khader made the remarks during the 13^th CSR and Sustainable Development Forum which is organized by CSR Egypt. The event opened on Thursday in the Red Sea resort city of Hurghada.