United Arab Emirates, 21 September 2020: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today published its third annual Sustainability Report, detailing the company’s 2019 environmental, social, and governance performance in both the UAE and the Republic of Guinea.

Prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, the international framework for sustainability reporting, the report details EGA’s commitment and performance, as a major industrial company, to securing a more sustainable future for the world.

The report also meets the reporting and disclosure requirements set by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI), a global coalition of aluminium producers, end-users and civil society stakeholders who together establish the global consensus on what constitutes best practice in the production of aluminium and its use.

In 2019, EGA sustained a safety performance better than the global industry average, as measured by the International Aluminium Institute (IAI). There were no fatalities or occupational diseases at any EGA site. For the first time, EGA achieved zero heat-related illnesses in its UAE operations during the hot summer months, marking a major milestone for the company’s ‘Beat the Heat’ safety campaign.

EGA Chief Executive Officer Abdulnasser Bin Kalban said: “At EGA, we believe producing the aluminium that makes modern life possible is not enough. We must also produce this aluminium responsibly, in ways that support the sustainable development of not only our company, but of the countries where we operate and our world. Transparently reporting our successes and challenges in annual Sustainability Reports is an important way for us to earn trust, as well as to hold ourselves accountable for improving our own sustainability performance.”

EGA’s 2019 greenhouse-gas-emissions intensity in smelting and casting was 38 per cent lower than the industry average published by IAI. Emissions of perfluorocarbons, a group of potent greenhouse gases which are associated with momentary imbalances in the smelting process known as Anode Effects, were 91 per cent lower than the global average.

In 2019, EGA marked 40 years since first producing aluminium in the UAE. In the decades since 1979, the UAE aluminium sector—with EGA at its heart—has emerged as one of the nation’s largest industries, accounting for more than 1.4 per cent of GDP and supporting over 60,000 UAE jobs.

EGA was the first Middle East-headquartered company to join ASI in 2017. Last year, its Al Taweelah site also became the first production facility in the Middle East to achieve certification to the ASI Performance Standards

EGA’s Sustainability Report 2019 is available for download at https://www.ega.ae/media/2356/ega-2019-sustainability-report.pdf.