ESG and financial performance in the Gulf

ESG and financial performance in the Gulf

ESG and financial performance in the Gulf
Gulf companies demonstrate a clear preference for investing in environmental factors. (AFP/File)
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Can corporate sustainability truly deliver financial benefits? Without a clear business rationale, ESG initiatives risk becoming hollow exercises in reputation management or regulatory compliance. Decades of research have consistently demonstrated that corporate sustainability can generate tangible financial returns in many regions. However, scholarly research on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region’s corporate sustainability practices has been very limited, often due to the perception that these companies adopted ESG initiatives later than their global peers. To address this knowledge gap, a group of three scholars (Catalina Stefanescu-Cuntze, Catarina Sa, and myself) have recently completed the first comprehensive study of GCC companies through an ESG lens. This research is currently under peer review at a leading finance journal.

Our study analyzed monthly ESG data for 54 publicly traded firms in the GCC region from January 2009 to May 2023. We included ESG scores, as well as separate E, S, and G scores, along with company size, stock returns, country, and industry information. Our sample covered large, mid-, and small-cap companies across 11 industries. To examine the relationship between ESG practices and financial performance, we employed random effects panel regressions using stock returns as a measure of performance. We considered lags of 12, 18, and 24 months for ESG scores to account for potential time delays between ESG initiatives and financial outcomes. For example, investing in cleaner energy sources may lead to long-term cost savings, but the initial investment could show up as a decrease in short-term profits (and higher ESG scores). Additionally, we controlled for market-wide returns to isolate the specific potential impact of ESG on firms’ stock performance.

What are the results? Contrary to the common belief that ESG performance directly impacts stock market performance, our study challenges this notion in the Gulf region. While ESG practices may positively contribute to sales, profits, and margins, investors do not appear to react strongly to companies’ ESG credentials, whether positive or negative. When we expanded our analysis to also consider individual environmental, social, and governance scores, market returns consistently emerge as the primary driver of stock price movements, leaving little room for ESG factors to explain variations.

While ESG practices may positively contribute to sales, profits, and margins, investors do not appear to react strongly to companies’ ESG credentials, whether positive or negative.

Rodrigo Tavares

Given these results, we have set out to consider the rare possibility of an inverse correlation, that is, whether financial performance could pave the way for better ESG scores. And indeed, we found positive evidence. In practical terms, the study demonstrates that firms allocate a portion of their profits toward enhancing corporate sustainability, with a particular emphasis on governance and environmental considerations. Gulf companies, especially those better endowed with resources, prioritize initiatives that bolster their sustainability credentials.

Gulf companies demonstrate a clear preference for investing in environmental factors (the “E” of ESG), likely reflecting a strategic alignment with national visions focused on economic decarbonization. It may reflect the region’s top-down approach, as seen in initiatives like Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which encourages companies to support energy transition plans. Better-resourced companies are more capable of making significant contributions to these efforts. Similarly, GCC companies also direct their internal resources to improve governance practices (the “G” of ESG) in line with top-down guidelines. Most countries in the region have recently updated their corporate governance codes to improve the overall business environment, attract foreign direct investment (FDI), and facilitate access to capital markets with lower funding costs.

The study also reveals that the positive impact of these corporate initiatives on Gulf companies’ ESG scores diminishes over time, particularly after 24 months, suggesting a potential lack of sustained commitment to sustainability practices. This could be due to factors such as insufficient expertise in sustainability or challenges in maintaining consistent efficiency. Ensuring the long-term sustainability of ESG initiatives requires ongoing investment and commitment. Integrating ESG considerations into core strategic planning and operational processes is crucial for achieving sustained impact.

The findings suggest that GCC policymakers and corporate governance bodies should consider the temporal aspect when designing regulations and incentives for ESG investments. The study’s results are clear. Short-term initiatives, while ethical and commendable, are not enough to drive sustainable change in the GCC region.

Rodrigo Tavares is an invited full professor of sustainable finance at Nova School of Business and Economics, founder and CEO of the Granito Group, and former head of the Office of Foreign Affairs of the Sao Paulo state government.

 

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

Trinity Rodman scores early in return from 8-month injury absence, and US women beat Brazil 2-0

Trinity Rodman scores early in return from 8-month injury absence, and US women beat Brazil 2-0
Updated 8 min 59 sec ago
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Trinity Rodman scores early in return from 8-month injury absence, and US women beat Brazil 2-0

Trinity Rodman scores early in return from 8-month injury absence, and US women beat Brazil 2-0
  • Played before a lively crowd of 32,303, this game was billed as the first professional women’s sporting event at SoFi Stadium, the nearly 5-year-old home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams
  • The Americans had been 15-0-2 since Hayes took over in June 2024

INGLEWOOD, California: Trinity Rodman drilled her shot into the bottom corner of Brazil’s net and promptly got mobbed by her teammates. She broke away from the goal celebration and grabbed her lower back, pretending to seize up with pain — only to stand up tall and laugh while flipping her pink hair over both shoulders.

After eight months of recovery from back woes, Rodman is feeling close to her old self again. The US women’s national team also showed signs of their top form while coolly handling another world power.

Rodman scored in the fifth minute of her return from a lengthy injury absence, and the Americans beat Brazil 2-0 Saturday in a friendly rematch of the Paris Olympics gold-medal match.

Rodman, the 22-year-old star and Orange County native, delivered her 11th goal for the US by finishing off a brilliant run by Alyssa Thompson. Rodman hadn’t played for the US since the Olympic final due to persistent back problems — hence her cheeky celebration.

“The medical staff was freaking out, but I felt like I had to do it,” Rodman said with a grin. “It felt so good to be in this atmosphere again, to be with the team. The stadium was crazy.”

Phallon Tullis-Joyce made six saves while keeping a clean sheet in the 28-year-old goalkeeper’s US debut. Captain Lindsey Heaps also scored a second-half penalty goal in the first of two California friendlies in four days against Brazil, who lost 2-1 in Paris as the US secured its fifth Olympic gold medal.

“I think it shows where this group is going,” Heaps said. “Our group is just getting better and better, and there’s not massive gaps between players. These young guns coming in ... it’s such a cool thing for us to see.”

Played before a lively crowd of 32,303, this game was billed as the first professional women’s sporting event at SoFi Stadium, the nearly 5-year-old home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.

The teams meet again Tuesday night in San Jose, California.

In their most recent outing in late February, the US women took their first defeat of coach Emma Hayes’ tenure, falling 2-1 to Japan in San Diego in the final of the SheBelieves Cup. The Americans had been 15-0-2 since Hayes took over in June 2024.

Back at it in SoFi, the Americans struck early — and with style.

Studio City native Thompson got a midfield touch and made an impressive run through Brazil’s formation, sending one defender to the grass in confusion before pushing a perfect pass to Rodman for her cool finish.

Rodman’s celebration was a treat as well — for most observers, anyway.

“Except I didn’t think she was pretending,” Hayes said with a grimace. “I will have a word with her, because that was like a ‘cry wolf’ moment. I turned to the physios and said, ‘Her back’s hurting,’ instantly. And then I realized she was tricking us.”

Later in the first half, Rodman appeared to be dealing with actual pain, which she blamed on a charley horse from getting kneed by an opponent. She still played 16 minutes into the second half before coming off.

The US was awarded a penalty when substitute Lily Johannes was tripped in the box. Heaps hammered it home for her 37th goal.

The depleted US defense had several rough moments in front of goal. The Seleção carried significant stretches of play and forced Tullis-Joyce to work hard, but the Long Island native who plays for Manchester United handled every chance capably.

Tullis-Joyce is competing for the first-string job after the retirement of Alyssa Naeher. Her parents and brother attended the match, but they didn’t know she would start until the lineup was announced an hour before kickoff.

“I love a clean sheet,” Tullis-Joyce said. “Happy for my teammates as well. That back line, they really gritted it out. Everybody was putting their body on the line. Credit to Brazil.”

The Americans will be without starting center backs Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson for the near future. They were replaced by Emily Sonnett and Tara McKeown, who only broke into the US lineup earlier this year.

Two weeks after the Mexico men’s team won the CONCACAF Nations Cup at SoFi, this friendly match was another early chapter in a series of upcoming soccer events in the Los Angeles area, including the 2026 men’s World Cup, the Los Angeles Olympics tournament and probably the Women’s World Cup in 2031.


Panama wants ‘respectful’ ties with US amid canal threats

Panama wants ‘respectful’ ties with US amid canal threats
Updated 06 April 2025
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Panama wants ‘respectful’ ties with US amid canal threats

Panama wants ‘respectful’ ties with US amid canal threats
  • The United States and China are the two biggest users of the Panama Canal, which handles five percent of global maritime trade, giving it vital economic and geostrategic importance

PANAMA CITY: Panama hopes to maintain a “respectful” relationship with the United States, even as President Donald Trump has repeated threats to retake the Panama Canal, Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha said Saturday.
His comments came ahead of a visit next week by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a trip made more urgent against the backdrop of Trump’s threats and his allegations of Chinese interference in the canal.
“We discussed illegal migration, organized crime, drug trafficking and (other issues),” Martinez-Acha wrote on X of a call Friday with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. “It was a cordial and constructive exchange.”
“I reiterated that all cooperation from Panama will take place under the framework of our constitution, our laws, and the Canal Neutrality Treaty,” he wrote. “Relations with the US must remain respectful, transparent and mutually beneficial.”
The US State Department said Landau had “expressed gratitude for Panama’s cooperation in halting illegal immigration and working with the United States to secure a nearly 98 percent decrease in illegal immigration through the Darien jungle,” an arduous path northward followed by many migrants.
The two officials also discussed the sale last month by the Hong Kong company CK Hutchison to giant US asset manager BlackRock of its concession in ports at either end of the Panama Canal, Martinez-Acha added.
Panama’s comptroller has been conducting an audit of Hutchison since January.
Landau “recognized Panama’s actions in curbing malign Chinese Communist Party influence,” the State Department said.
The deal was set to close on April 2 but has been held up as Chinese regulators pursue an investigation.
The United States and China are the two biggest users of the Panama Canal, which handles five percent of global maritime trade, giving it vital economic and geostrategic importance. It was inaugurated by the United States in 1914 and has been in Panamanian hands since 1999.


Tens of thousands of Spaniards march across the country to protest the growing housing crisis

Tens of thousands of Spaniards march across the country to protest the growing housing crisis
Updated 06 April 2025
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Tens of thousands of Spaniards march across the country to protest the growing housing crisis

Tens of thousands of Spaniards march across the country to protest the growing housing crisis
  • The housing crisis has hit particularly hard in Spain, where there is a strong tradition of home ownership and scant public housing for rent

BARCELONA, Spain: Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched in protests held across the European country on Saturday in anger over high housing costs with no relief in sight.
Government authorities said that 15,000 marched in Madrid, while organizers said 10 times that many took to the streets of the capital. In Barcelona, the city hall said 12,000 people took part in the protest, while organizers claimed over 100,000 did.
The massive demonstration of social angst that is a major concern for Spain’s left-wing government was organized by housing activists and backed by Spain’s main labor unions.
The housing crisis has hit particularly hard in Spain, where there is a strong tradition of home ownership and scant public housing for rent. Rents have been driven up by increased demand. Buying a home has become unaffordable for many, with market pressures and speculation driving up prices, especially in big cities and coastal areas.
A generation of young people say they have to stay with their parents or spend big just to share an apartment, with little chance of saving enough to one day purchase a home. High housing costs mean even those with traditionally well-paying jobs are struggling to make ends meet.
“I’m living with four people and still, I allocate 30 or 40 percent of my salary to rent,” said Mari Sánchez, a 26-year-old lawyer in Madrid. “That doesn’t allow me to save. That doesn’t allow me to do anything. It doesn’t even allow me to buy a car. That’s my current situation, and the one many young people are living through.”
Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez said on X that “I share the demand of the numerous people who have marched today: that homes are for living in and not for speculating.”
Lack of public housing
The average rent in Spain has almost doubled in the last 10 years. The price per square meter rose from 7.2 euros ($7.90) in 2014 to 13 euros last year, according to real estate website Idealista. The increase is bigger in Madrid and Barcelona.
Incomes have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in a country with chronically high unemployment.
Spain does not have the public housing that other European nations have invested in to cushion struggling renters from a market that is pricing them out.
Spain is near the bottom end of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries with public housing for rent making up under 2 percent of all available housing. The OECD average is 7 percent. In France it is is 14 percent, Britain 16 percent and the Netherlands 34 percent.
Angry renters point to instances of international hedge funds buying up properties, often with the aim of renting them to foreign tourists. The question has become so politically charged that Barcelona’s city government pledged last year to phase out all its 10,000 permits for short-term rentals, many of them advertised on platforms like Airbnb, by 2028.
Marchers in Madrid on Saturday chanted “Get Airbnb out of our neighborhoods” and held up signs against short-term rentals. In Barcelona, someone carried a sign reading “I am not leaving, vampire,” apparently in a message to would-be real estate speculator seeking to drive him out of his home.
Authorities under pressure
The central government’s biggest initiative for curbing the cost of housing is a rent cap mechanism it has offered to regional authorities, based on a price index established by the housing ministry. The government says the measure has slightly reduced rents in Barcelona, one of the few areas it has been applied.
But government measures have not proven enough to stop protests over the past two years. Experts say the situation likely won’t improve anytime soon.
“This is not the first, nor will it be the last, (housing protest) given the severity of the housing crisis,” Ignasi Martí, professor with the Esade business school and head of its Dignified Housing Observatory, said in an email.
“We saw this with the financial crisis (of 2008-2012) when (a protest movement) lasted until there was a certain economic recovery and a reduction in the social tension,” Marti added.


Britain says Israel’s detention of two UK MPs ‘unacceptable’

British Foreign Minister David Lammy speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on August 15, 2024. (AFP file photo)
British Foreign Minister David Lammy speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on August 15, 2024. (AFP file photo)
Updated 19 min 15 sec ago
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Britain says Israel’s detention of two UK MPs ‘unacceptable’

British Foreign Minister David Lammy speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on August 15, 2024. (AFP file photo)
  • “I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British Parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support,” Lammy said

LONDON: Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Saturday it was “unacceptable” and deeply concerning that Israel had detained two UK lawmakers and denied them entry.
Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, from the governing Labour Party, flew from London to Israel but were blocked from entering the country and deported, British media reported.
“It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities,” Lammy said in a statement.
“I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support.
“The UK government’s focus remains securing a return to the ceasefire and negotiations to stop the bloodshed, free the hostages and end the conflict in Gaza.”
Since renewed military operations last month ended a short-lived truce in its war with Hamas, Israel has pushed to seize territory in the Gaza Strip in what it said was a strategy to force militants to free hostages still in captivity.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said 1,249 people have been killed since Israel resumed intense bombing last month, bringing the overall death toll since the war began to 50,609.
The October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in 1,218 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

 


US to revoke all South Sudan visas over failure to accept repatriation of citizens: Rubio

US to revoke all South Sudan visas over failure to accept repatriation of citizens: Rubio
Updated 06 April 2025
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US to revoke all South Sudan visas over failure to accept repatriation of citizens: Rubio

US to revoke all South Sudan visas over failure to accept repatriation of citizens: Rubio
  • South Sudan had failed to respect the principle that every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said
  • Washington “will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full cooperation,” he added

WASHINGTON: The US said on Saturday it would revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders over that country’s failure of to accept the return of repatriated citizens.

South Sudan had failed to respect the principle that every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said
“Effective immediately, the United States Department of State is taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and prevent further issuance to prevent entry into the United States by South Sudanese passport holders,” Rubio said.
It was the first such measure singling out all passport holders from a particular country since Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20, having campaigned on an anti-immigration platform.
Rubio accused the transitional government in Juba of “taking advantage of the United States,” saying that “every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country... seeks to remove them.”
Washington “will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full cooperation,” Rubio added.
The world’s newest country and also one of the poorest, South Sudan is currently prey to tensions between political leaders.
Some observers fear a renewal of the civil war that killed 400,000 people between 2013 and 2018.