Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) Ltd, the global aviation services company, today announced that it has completed its annual review with Morningstar Sustainalytics, who has assessed DAE’s ESG Risk Rating to be ‘Low Risk’, with a score of 14.4. The Summary ESG Risk Rating Report on DAE can be accessed here or on DAE’s website.

Today, DAE also announced that it has received a ‘C’ score from CDP for its Climate Change 2022 response, this is the best among our aircraft leasing industry peers. This score is consistent with our roadmap to improving our overall ESG Risk Management, first through disclosure, and now, by building awareness, followed by increasing our overall impact.

In 2022, DAE furthered its commitment to environmental transparency by disclosing its environmental impact through CDP, a global non-profit that runs the world’s leading environmental disclosure platform, and S&P’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies’ sustainability practices, covering over 10,000 companies from around the world.

These updates follow a number of initiatives undertaken by DAE, including the publication in April 2022 of DAE’s second annual Environmental, Social, and Governance Report, which can be accessed here, and DAE Capital’s signing of the Aircraft Leasing Ireland (ALI) Sustainability Charter, a framework for assessing and disclosing sustainability alignment for leasing portfolios and which provides actionable guidance on how to achieve GHG reduction ambitions.

Sustainability is a prerequisite for the continued long-term growth and success of the sector. The Charter is based upon aviation’s pathway to net zero in 2050 and covers the entire spectrum of ESG, including demonstrating leadership in carbon disclosures and accelerating progress in future aircraft and low-carbon technologies.

Morningstar Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Ratings measure a company’s exposure to industry-specific material ESG risks and how well a company is managing those risks. This multi-dimensional way of measuring ESG risk combines the concepts of management and exposure to arrive at an assessment of ESG risk, i.e. a total unmanaged ESG risk score or the ESG Risk Rating, that is comparable across all industries. Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Ratings provide a quantitative measure of unmanaged ESG risk and distinguish between five levels of risk: Negligible, Low, Medium, High and Severe.

Commenting on the publication of the ESG Risk Rating, Firoz Tarapore, Chief Executive Officer of DAE, stated, “We have maintained an industry-leading ESG Risk Rating, which remains the lowest of any company in the aircraft leasing industry, and demonstrates the ongoing focus that DAE place on ESG risk management and reducing the impact that our company has on the environment. We continue to engage with our stakeholders on ESG issues and are committed to supporting the aviation industry in its decarbonization journey.”

Dexter Galvin, Global Director of Corporations and Supply Chains at CDP, also commented, “Another year of extreme weather, including floods, droughts, and record temperatures, has shown us that climate change is already posing a real and increasing risk to companies and their supply chains. Companies have a fundamental role to play in securing a sustainable net-zero, deforestation-free, and water-secure world. It is only through measuring their environmental impact, risks, and opportunities that they can manage them and prepare for the future. By disclosing through CDP, DAE has taken a vital first step. I look forward to their continued dedication to transparency and action for the benefit of all people and the planet.”