SearchENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Participating in cleanup activities provides opportunities for SABIC employees to connect with each other and the wider communities, and is a good example of how our CSR activities complement the sustainability concepts inherent in our core business. Addressing climate change and plastic pollution require coordinated international and inter/intra-industry efforts. While smaller scale, local clean-up activities provide opportunities to build awareness and demonstrate that personal participation can making a difference. Our Global Environmental Protection Initiative reached seven countries in 2022 – India, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Spain and the US.
We partnered with the Houston Wilderness Tree Planting for the second consecutive year for a large-scale native tree-planting activity to increase water absorption and erosion control to help with the area’s flooding problems. We conducted a Circular Economy program in Spain in collaboration with the UPCT University focused on reducing marine litter, during which we held workshops and environmental awareness sessions targeting high school students.
In commemoration of World Environment Day 2022, we organized a community cleanup activity in Guangzhou and Chongqing, China, for the second year. The coastal cleanup was held to emphasize to our employees the responsibility we have as a company towards conserving and keeping the water areas clean for the community to enjoy. SABIC also held World Environment Day cleanup activities in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and India, cultivating a culture of responsible waste management as part of our commitment in the community. In Houston, SABIC supported Trash Bash, the largest single-day waterway cleanup in Texas.
Employee volunteers participate in coastal cleaning in Chongqing and Guangzhou, China
WATER & SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
Water and sustainable agriculture are increasingly vital due to their collective impact on our daily lives, from ending hunger to achieving food security and improving nutrition. We support farmers through sharing ideas and experiences on effective farming practices, crop productivity, quality and variety. To this end we sponsored three agricultural events in Saudi Arabia in 2022; The Coffee Bean Al Dayer Festival in Jazan region, the Al-Hariq Citrus Festival in Al-Hariq, the Olive Festival in Al-Jouf, and Date Festivals in Buraidah and Unaizah.
In South Africa, we continued our support of the Igardi activity which aims to utilize community waste as a resource to enhance food security and self sufficiency. This school program supports schools in building, planting and maintaining their own food gardens as well as setting up easy steps to evaluate and utilize local waste to benefit the community. Meanwhile in Kenya, in response to the community facing challenges with access to storage of clean water, SABIC provided fifty 2,000-liter plastic water tank to help the community harvest and store rain water.
Our Igardi activity aims to leverage community waste into sustainable agriculture
LOOKING FORWARD
We have planned a variety of projects for the coming years spanning the environment, health and education.
The SABIC Mental Health Hospital will be opened in 2023 in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, reflecting our commitment to supporting mental health. As part of this initiative, we plan to conduct community-awareness sessions and programs, provide therapy, create education and research opportunities, and develop a care model to deliver personalized patient care.
The MADAC Academy, another initiative slated for 2023, aims to build a world-class educational complex with equal emphasis on education and cultural values. The center, a SAR 20 million initiative, specializes in providing interactive education for young people, encouraging them to understand the historical, cultural, and scientific aspects of civilization and to develop intellectual curiosity.