Knowledge Center

ESG is one of those terms that arrives in a boardroom as an acronym and leaves a question: what does this mean for us, and why are we being asked about it now? In the UAE, no blanket ESG mandate currently applies to most private businesses. Yet companies across sectors are finding ESG criteria embedded in financing processes, supply chain qualification, and investor due diligence — often before they have begun any formal ESG preparation. The Federal Decree-Law No. (11) of 2024 on the Reduction of Climate Change Effects formalizes a direction of travel that was already shaping commercial reality. The law is not a starting gun. The race has been under way for some time.

Nine in 10 interpreneurs in the UAE (90%) expect the environment for international expansion will become more favourable in the next two to three years, while just 5% expect it to worsen.

A year into consulting, the reality felt different from what I expected. I came in knowing the frameworks. I could build a financial model, structure a report, present findings. What I didn't fully grasp was how much of this work lives in the thinking before any of that. After a year at Kreston ME Consulting, working in industries across healthcare, pharma, manufacturing, F&B and childcare facilities, and closely with Freezone authorities on C-suite advisory work, here's what actually stayed with me.

It is a familiar assumption in audit conversations – and one that continues to shape expectations across clients and engagement teams. With tighter reporting deadlines and increasing regulatory scrutiny, it can feel like speed and quality are fundamentally at odds.

Transfer pricing is often misunderstood as a “large multinational” issue. In reality, it is a structural requirement that applies to any group with controlled transactions regardless of size.

Most businesses don't have a data problem. They have an interpretation problem.

A CEO sits down with the monthly report. Revenue is up. Overheads look flat. Margins are roughly where they were last quarter. The meeting wraps in twenty minutes.