Student name

SUSTAINABILITY
date
Emirates airline
 1

Table of Contents
Executive Summary:...................................................................................................................................1
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................................1
Sustainability and forms of sustainability:.................................................................................................2
Sustainability concerning financial management......................................................................................2
Emirates sustainability activities:...............................................................................................................3
Carbon emission and climate change-related activities:..........................................................................3
Noise Emission:........................................................................................................................................3
Waste Recycling:......................................................................................................................................3
How these sustainability activities affect the firm’s corporate performance:...........................................4
Conclusion:..................................................................................................................................................5
 2

Executive Summary:

Emirates is one of the largest airline operating in the world, it is important for the airline to realize the
importance of sustainability practices and ensure the corporate governance framework in the company.
In this report, we will analyze the sustainably and its type and particularly with respect to financial
management. In the second part, we will analyze the practices implemented by Emirates in lieu of
sustainability and then we will measure the impacts of these practices on the corporate performance of
the company. The conclusion is given at the ends of the report.

Introduction:

Emirates Airline is a UAE based company, operating in the aviation industry. The company is launched in
1985 by the government of Dubai as a regional air carrier and started operations with two airplanes. It
has become the fastest-growing airline in Dubai with having the largest fleet now. The airline operates in
more than 120 destinations with the having more than 140 aircraft including Boeing and Airbus. An
airline is employing around 40000 employees all over the world[ CITATION Emi20 \l 1033 ]. It has been
given man awards for being the best airline in the world and fro their operations.

Mission and Vision of the company:

The vision of the airline is to become the industry leader in providing the services along with the
incorporation of innovation, environment protection practice, and sustainable growth.

The mission of the company includes the delivery of high-quality services, improving the client’s comfort,
growth with the market trends, and investment in the new technologies to help maintain the standards.

The key values of the company also ensure the focus on customer satisfaction through the higher quality
practices, the leadership of the aviation industry, and fulfilling the responsibility towards the community.
These key values are also the basis of the strategic planning of the company and ensure the sustainable
practices being embedded into the core practices[ CITATION Emi20 \l 1033 ].
 3

Sustainability and forms of sustainability:

Sustainability is the ability to meet the present-day demands without compromising on the future
availability of those resources. It is the ability to maintain the level of resources without letting them
deplete in the future. The sustainability can be divided into three pillars which compose the definition of
sustainability. These are:

 Economic sustainability

Economic sustainability is the term used to describe the long term economic growth of the company
without impacting the environmental, social, or cultural values.

 Environmental sustainability

This is the incorporation of environmentally friendly practices to use the resources in such a way to meet
the present demand without impacting their future inflow.

 Social sustainability

Social sustainability ensures the well-being of the organization's own members and promoting a healthy
environment for their growth.

The sustainability framework provides guidelines to the firms to devise their strategy for the long term
resource usage rather than focusing on short term advantages that a firm can get.

Sustainability concerning financial management

The financial management is an important element in sustainable practices, it motivates the

management to attain sustainable financial growth by incorporating the sustainable values in the
business[ CITATION Dou08 \l 1033 ]. The world of business is ever-changing and financial management
helps in achieving sustainable goals towards climate resilience, human rights, gender equality, and
environmental responsibilities. The sustainability in business can be completed by implementing the
planned sustainability risk management which will help in enabling the company to improve its
sustainable ideologies and related practices[ CITATION Mar19 \l 1033 ]. The financial managers are
responsible for making decisions that are environment-friendly and empowering the environmental and
social aspects of the investment. The investment and monetary management of the company should
 4

include the procedure to eliminate climate change, reduce the inequality at the workplace, and enhance
the company's adherence to the sustainability framework.

Emirates sustainability activities:

Emirates is operating under the aviation industry which has the greatest responsibility to acknowledge
its role in the sustainability and development of sustainable practices to reduce its impact on the
environment and society. The aviation industry is contributing to the environment through the fuel and
carbon emission that is coming from fuel consumption[ CITATION RJa17 \l 1033 ]. The company is
focused on improving sustainable practices and reduce carbon footprints due to their operations. Some
of the major suitability practices adopted by the company are:

Carbon emission and climate change-related activities:

The company is making sure to revamp and replace the fleet so that the fuel-efficient fleet can be used
in the business operations as the old air buses and airplanes consume more fuel and increased carbon
emission. The fuel-efficient policy of the company is currently more reliable than other competitors.

Noise Emission:
The noise emission percentage is measured in decibel (db.) unit of measure. The company has
successfully reduced the notice emission of the aircraft and reported them as -8.26% in 2010 and -10.31
in 2015-2016. The company is regularly performing aircraft checks and inspections to maintain the noise
levels and performance of aircraft engines.

Waste Recycling:
Emirates airline has shifted its focus on the recycling of waste and reducing the waste from their
activities. The waste such as plastic, aluminum cans, paper, and cardboard, etc. are recycled and again
used in the flight operations (appendix 1). The company has estimated the revenue that is generated
from the recycling is around USD 272,500[CITATION MKh18 \l 1033 ]. Also, the company has taken
substantive measures to use eco-friendly products that help in the promotion of sustainability.

Also, the company is focused on reducing water wastage and usage at the buildings and other operations
to save the water. The company is also focusing on the socially responsible investment decisions to get
the socially responsible return to achieve the long term sustainability goals like an investment in
alternative energy resources and R&D cost for the innovation in air travel. The corporation is also taking
measures to reduce their carbon footprint as well as the effect of operations on the environment to
sustain the growth.
 5

How these sustainability activities affect the firm’s

corporate performance:
Sustainability is not limited to the definition of some practices applied by any organization only,
but it also extends to the inclusion in terms of its structure in the organizations, related party
transacting, disclosure, sustainability performance, and social equity of the company. The
company with higher sustainability performs reports higher corporate governance index
[ CITATION Ash18 \l 1033 ].

Corporate governance can be defined as the basic rules, laws, and processes that are
implemented into the business for the operation and control of the activities. It also includes
the internal as well as external factors that affect the stakeholders, suppliers, government, and
all employees, etc. The corporate governance consists of four Ps which are:

 People
 Purpose
 Processes
 Performance

The focus of corporate governance has shifted to the inclusion of sustainability which resulted in
the changes in corporate governance practices in the organizations. The “Meeting the needs of
the present without compromising the future” put a responsibility on the corporations to
perform in such a way that ensures sustainable future growth[ CITATION RJa15 \l 1033 ].

Emirates' sustainable practices not only help them in reducing their carbon footprint and
introduce more environmentally friendly practices but also ensures the higher efficiency of
corporate practices. The inclusion of more environmentally friendly practices helps in attracting
new stakeholders in the business such as shareholders, customers, and employees who are
socially responsible. The company has reported increased revenue in 2019 by 5.35% as
compared to 2018, however, the operating margin almost remained the same. The factor that
impacted the operating margins was the increasing fuel cost however the company’s fuel
reduction policy helped them in countering the effect of these increased prices in fy2019.
Another marked achievement is the reduction of single plastic use by 77% led by the company
 6

which helps them improve their environmental outlook. Also, the reduced wastage and use of
recycling methods helped the company earn 1million AED in terms of revenue. The waste
disposal cost is also saved because of implementing single-use plastic reduction practices. The
company’s performance has improved because of focus on the more IATA compliance and
meeting the prescribed standards for the aviation industry which is why companies are not
charged any penalty in the year 2019.

Also, compliance with the regulations and laws regarding social responsibility improves the
goodwill of the company which is partially increased due to the inclusion of more socially
responsible practices. The company’s goodwill stands at 61.4 billion USD in 2018 which
increased in 2019 to 63.3 billion USD[ CITATION Emi19 \l 1033 ]. Sustainable practices help the
company in reducing the corruption level, and malign practices as well. The corporate
governance structure of the company ensures transparency in operations as well as fair
practices.

The sustainability drives the company to use more environmentally friendly practices and shift
to the electric and hybrid equipment and replace the diesel-fueled equipment in the future
which will help the company in the standardization of the operating cost to ensure flexible
airfares. The company is mainly concerned with the “green finance” which ensure the long term
survival of the company by keeping the resources for the future as the operations of the
company are dependent upon the environmental factors[ CITATION MKh18 \l 1033 ]\p\p. The
company ensures compliance with the human rights practices and reducing gender equality
which helps in reducing the discrimination at workplace practices. The company is labeled itself
as an equal opportunity employer, employing around 44% of the female workers which is
around 29000 female employees.

Conclusion:
After the analysis of the report, we can conclude that Emirates has applied sustainable practices
in its operations and financial management of the company. The company has put emphasis on
the reduction of carbon footprints as well as the carbon emission because of the operations of
 7

the company. The company has moreover implemented a variety of practices to ensure reduced
water consumption, fuel consumption, noise reduction, and waste management which are
some considerable steps towards sustainability. The company has also put the focus on social
and economic sustainability which helps in promoting the environmentally friendly growth of
the company like investing in more environmentally aware investment and measuring the
return in socially responsible rerun on investment which is a part of the organizations reporting.
The main corporate goals of the company involve innovation and sustainability which helps in
turning the strategic focus towards the inclusion of more sustainable practices.

References
Doug Cerf, A. S. (2008). Financial Management to support sustainability. Creating Sustainable Work
Systems.

Emirates. (2019). THE EMIRATES GROUP ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REPORT 2017-18 . Emirates
airline.
 8

Emirates. (2020). ABOUT US. Retrieved from emirates.com:

https://www.emirates.com/pk/english/about-us/our-planet/sustainability-in-operations/

M Khan, M. H. (2018). Trust, information sharing and uncertainty: An empirical investigation into their
impact on sustainability in service supply chains in the United Arab Emirates.

Mariam Al Muhairi, H. N. (2019). Sustainable Financial Management.

R Jayaraman, D. L. (2015). Optimal work force allocation for energy, economic and environmental
sustainability in the United Arab Emirates: A goal programming approach. Energy Procedia.

R Jayaraman, D. L. (2017). A fuzzy goal programming model to analyze energy, environmental and
sustainability goals of the United Arab Emirates. Annals of Operations.

Sar, A. K. (2018). IMPACT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ON SUSTAINABILITY: A STUDY OF THE INDIAN

FMCG INDUSTRY. Academy of Strategic Management Journal.

Appendix 1:
 9

Source: https://c.ekstatic.net/ecl/documents/environmental-reports/environment-report-2017-18.pdf