EQUATE's President and CEO Dr Ramesh Ramachandran

KUWAIT: Continuing its role as a global petrochemical enterprise committed to sustainability, the EQUATE Group issued its 2015-2016 sustainability report that details its combined performance after acquiring MEGlobal in 2015.

As the fifth account of its type issued since 2012, the EQUATE Group's Sustainability Report 2015-2016 was developed according to the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to cover the Group's locations in Kuwait, UAE, Canada and the USA. In addition, it details EQUATE's Sustainability Strategy 2025.

EQUATE's President and CEO Dr Ramesh Ramachandran, said: "The Group seeks to create sustainable development through the triple bottom line of economy, society and the environment in all our locations. Sustainability is a core strategic objective that we want to achieve with our stakeholders. It is applicable to every aspect of our enterprise, and is not an expression that we use lightly".

"Having launched our Sustainability Strategy 2025 during 2016, we renewed our focus and plan to enhance the impact of our activities throughout the world. The strategy consists of 16 initiatives identified under three core themes - Build, Innovate and Impact. These are elements that we aspire to achieve in all parts of our business," added Dr Ramachandran.

Covering a number of sustainability topics, major highlights from the report include:

* Total amount of community investments reached $2.8 million in 2015 and 2016.

* An increase in the economic value retained from zero to $37.5 million during 2015 to 2016.

* An increase of over 119 percent in the direct economic value generated from $1.619 million to $3.557 million throughout 2015 to 2016.

* A decrease of over 58,000 tons of direct greenhouse gas emissions representing a 1.14 percent reduction between 2015 and 2016.

* An achieved goal of zero regulatory fines.

* EQUATE's sustainability roadmap until 2025 and overall realized progress.

* Alignment with the UN Sustainable Goals (SDGs) and the Kuwait National development plan 2035.