Driving Heavy Industry Decarbonisation in the UAE and the Role of SMEs in the Process
Stephen St Leger, UAE Country Manager at Watt Footprint, recently attended the Policy Hack on Empowering SMEs to Drive Supply Chain Decarbonisation in Heavy Industry, organised by the UAE Independent Climate Change Accelerators.
The event brought together policymakers, business leaders, and sustainability experts to address one of today’s most pressing challenges—reducing emissions across supply chains in heavy industries while ensuring that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are empowered to lead the transition.
With SMEs contributing more than 40% of the UAE’s GDP and playing a pivotal role in global sustainability efforts, their involvement in these discussions is essential.
The policy hack explored several critical themes:
Financial and regulatory challenges SMEs face in pursuing sustainability initiatives.
Innovative, cost-effective technologies that can help reduce emissions.
Strengthening partnerships across supply chains to enable a low-carbon future.
The day provided valuable opportunities to hear directly from SMEs about the obstacles they encounter in their decarbonisation journeys, to learn from industry leaders, and to exchange ideas that could inform future policy.
Under Stephen St Leger’s leadership, Watt Footprint is well positioned to support SMEs in the UAE as they tackle these challenges. The company specialises in removing uncertainty and designing tailored strategies to help businesses achieve their sustainability ambitions.
With the UAE’s mandatory emissions reporting regulation set to take effect in May 2025, the time to act is now. Companies that begin their decarbonisation journey early will not only ensure compliance but also position themselves as leaders in sustainability—enhancing resilience, competitiveness, and market access.
Stephen St Leger emphasised the importance of early engagement: “Starting now gives SMEs a competitive edge and the opportunity to shape a more sustainable future for their industry.”
Watt Footprint invites SMEs seeking guidance on their sustainability journey to reach out and explore how its expertise can help them achieve meaningful and measurable results.
Special thanks to Sustain Global for hosting such an impactful and forward-looking event.