Taking the sustainable road to success

Sustainability is increasingly becoming a business imperative rather than a nice-to-have as consumers and investors are actively fuelling their decision-making by placing a high value on businesses acting with greater responsibility in regard to how they operate and the wider impact they have on the world. For businesses, it is fast becoming the mindset of no longer simply being survival of the fittest, it is survival of the most sustainable.

Companies now realize they must measure the impact they are making on the environment and the people they engage with directly or indirectly. Increasingly, gone are the days when the terms sustainability and corporate social responsibility were side initiatives in a business, they are now more central to the business strategy and operation. 
As a responsible business, CAFU takes sustainability very seriously by focusing efforts that help to improve the environment and wider community with practical measures that can make a difference. For CAFU, this takes the form of the company strategy, the CAFU Sustainability Deal, towards being responsible and embedding sustainability into practical actions that can make a difference to the world around us. 

Sustainability Driving Business Decisions

The case for climate change is a compelling one. The role of business in contributing positive action to this agenda is vitally important – it is why at Dubai born start-up CAFU, we believe that we, like others, should and must act responsibly in delivering a positive impact in the world.
At the heart of the sustainability approach by CAFU is the aim to plant one million Ghaf seeds which forms the central pillar of the CAFU Sustainability Deal in its mission towards becoming carbon neutral. 

As an innovative technology company born in Dubai, CAFU is harnessing its home-grown technology development towards helping to solve challenges faced by the world today and in the future in the efforts towards enabling a more sustainable world. 

Through CAFU’s bespoke technology solution and combined with an extensive R&D programme, it is using drone technology to map, plant, and monitor at scale the Ghaf tree plantation in the UAE desert environment.  Native to the UAE, the Ghaf tree is perfect for these harsh desert conditions found in the Emirates. The tree survives on very little water, improves the quality of the soil, and helps battle climate change by taking in up to 34.65 kg of Co2 emissions per tree, per year.  

With one million trees planted, they could absorb up to 34,650 tonnes of Co2 emissions per year. With a Ghaf tree able to live up to 120 years, that could mean that over 4.1 million tonnes of Co2 could be absorbed over their lifetime which would make an immense positive contribution to our world. 

Through the CAFU Sustainability Deal, the company is making business decisions to be responsible to the wider environment. It is why the company recently introduced a waterless car wash that delivers a high-quality service to its consumers but at the same is more environmentally friendly, it means business decisions focused on the sustainability agenda that can achieve both objectives, acting responsibly whilst also being of high value to the consumer. 

Green Human Resource

Bold leadership combined with a desire to act and live more responsibility can steer the business towards profit with sustainability. With this focus, the company is taking a raft of measures to operationalise several sustainability initiatives from plastic recycling across our estate through to reduction to the amount of paper we consume. In the newly created role of Sustainability and Community Manager, I am driving the leadership agenda of the company into practical steps to reduce the impact that we have as a company on the world. 

Purpose is the Key

Leading businesses now realize that purpose is just as important as profit. This may call for tough decision making at times, but supported by the right resources, both financial and intellectual, companies can serve a much greater purpose whilst also making profits – purely by acting responsibly. Increasingly, consumers are looking at the impact that brands have on the world around them and driving their purchasing and consumption decision making around sustainability values and practices being implemented by companies. 

Align to Sustainable Goals

Aligning your sustainability journey to pre-set goals is a great way to embark on this road towards a brighter future for the business as well as future generations. Our own efforts towards sustainability have led us to align CAFU with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 on Climate Action that is focused on creating a better environment through innovation and transformation in a rapidly evolving world. Having also signed-up to the SDG Ambition Accelerator programme, we are now able to align CAFU with the SDG objectives to improve measurement and performance towards achieving our sustainability goals.

At CAFU, we believe sustainability and innovation are perfect partners in making a positive impact to our customers, our community, and ultimately to the world. Organizations need to consider the wider impact of their business on the world and establish ways to reduce any negative impact on the environment by adapting to more eco-friendly solutions. The business community can achieve both excellent and innovative services to their customers, but also with careful consideration, they can take actions to positively impact the world, and ensure a bright future for generations to come.

By Nabra Al Busaidi / Sustainability and Community Manager at CAFU