As the region’s events and entertainment calendar continues to expand, Ethara expands sustainability practices across Yas Marina Circuit, Etihad Arena, Etihad Park, and Yas Conference Centre for Abu Dhabi’s largest event season to date
Abu Dhabi, UAE – 6 October, 2023: The scale of the events season in Abu Dhabi continues to expand each year, with exciting new additions to the calendar featuring award-winning productions and thrilling sporting spectacles to close out the year. With this, the high footfall in venues also requires consideration of the impact on the environment, and Ethara is evolving in its sustainability practices going into its busiest event season to date.
In line with the United Arab Emirates’ Year of Sustainability, the homegrown company has reached new levels in its business-wide approach recognising the importance in lowering the environmental impacts of activities to achieve key global goals, including the aim to reach Net Zero Emissions at Yas Marina Circuit by 2030.
Following conscious efforts in recent years to integrate best practices in sustainability across our operations and make consistent progress and align with international goals for lowering carbon emissions, Ethara CEO Saif Rashid Al Noaimi sees further room for growth for the company to implement its leading practices across its four venues.
“We are making significant strides in our efforts to bring more sustainable, practical solutions to Ethara as a whole, and importantly across our venues,” he said.
“In recent years, our work to align with FIA and Formula 1 on their Net Zero strategy has led to the award of the FIA 3* environmental certification for the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as well as becoming a signatory to the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework and being an active participant with other members”.
“We continue to align with global sporting bodies and contribute to the climate action conversation, whilst also setting out actions, plans, and approaches at the venues we operate and the events we promote”.
With the recent implementation of Yas Marina Circuit’s track-wide LED lighting system, saving up to 33% on lighting load and reducing total connected power requirements across the 5.28km track, organisers have planned well in advance for this year’s Formula 1 season finale to have eco-efficient lighting that complements the day-to-night race in Abu Dhabi.
Named as one of the region’s most sustainably designed buildings by the MENA Green Building Awards during its opening phase, Etihad Arena has continued to evolve with the demand of its award-winning spectacles.
Plans to adapt to this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Etihad Park – the home of the Yasalam After-Race concerts each year – will also see an evolution of its efficient use of the elements, following hydro and recycling initiatives that have supported iconic music performances in past years. The venue’s plastic-free uniform drive was also introduced in 2022, in partnership with DGrade, to utilise and maximise recycling efforts in the arena across the year.
Ethara has also recently been certified to ISO 20121 and ISO 14001 in recognition of their event and venue management practices which improve the sustainability management practices for events delivered by Ethara and the venues they operates. The certification recognises Ethara’s commitment to event attendees, partners, and stakeholders to deliver robust management systems that strive to continually improve sustainable practices that minimise environmental impact.
In line with the company’s vision to create experiences of the future for today, the overall objective in its sustainability approach is to focus on Today for Tomorrow, as outlined by the nation’s leadership for 2023.
Saif Rashid Al Noaimi added: “Our mission is to make moments that matter, powered by creativity and innovation. Our sustainability progress is inspired by this too, as we look to introduce new ways to become more efficient as a brand – not only in our sustainable practices, but also how we manage our events and venues and ultimately the experiences of our fans.
