Dubai: Gulf Capital, a leading growth markets alternative investment firm, today announced that it has formally joined HRH The Prince of Wales’ Terra Carta, which provides a roadmap for businesses to move towards a sustainable future by 2030. Gulf Capital has become the first firm from the Middle East and Africa to join the charter and to commit to its 10-point action plan for sustainability, inclusive of nature, people, equality, and prosperity. It covers ESG and diversity, such as corporate governance, stakeholder engagement, the role of consumers, sustainable energy, scalability, market incentives, and manufacturing processes.
Dr Karim El Solh, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Capital, joins some of the world’s leading CEOs in supporting the charter’s vision to help build an inspiring, inclusive, equitable, prosperous, and sustainable future.
“Terra Carta is a pledge to put sustainability at the heart of the private sector. As a signatory to the charter, Gulf Capital voluntarily commits to support international agreements and best practices on sustainability, diversity, equity, and inclusiveness for a prosperous future for people and the planet”, Dr Karim El Solh said. He also added: “Gulf Capital has been working towards more tangible ESG goals, implementing systems and processes across our operations and our large portfolio of investments, and we have recently moved to formalising our ESG commitments by becoming a signatory to both the Terra Carta and the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing (“UNPRI”) initiatives. Collaboration amongst peers on a global scale will propel a drive towards collective concrete actions and a more sustainable future for businesses, people and the planet.”
Terra Carta was launched on January 11 at the One Planet Summit in France and forms part of Prince Charles’ Sustainable Market Initiative (SMI). The initiative connects the public, private, and philanthropic sectors to lead and accelerate the global transition to a sustainable future. In addition to Gulf Capital, the charter has already attracted 183 supporters including the CEOs of Lombard Odier, BlackRock, Unilever, AstraZeneca, Heathrow Airport, the Bank of America, Coutts, Unilever and HSBC.
Terra Carta “puts Nature, People and Planet at the heart of global value creation – one that will harness the precious, irreplaceable power of Nature combined with the transformative innovation and resources of the private sector”, said His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales in his announcement.
In November last year, the Firm became a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) as it incorporates Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors into all its investment and ownership decisions.
About Gulf Capital:
Gulf Capital is a leading, thematic-driven alternative investment firm with over fifteen years of investment experience in Growth Markets across Private Equity, Private Debt, Growth Capital, and Real Estate. The Firm partners with great entrepreneurs and management teams to provide them with growth capital, strategic advice, and operational expertise and helps them build market-leading global businesses. Gulf Capital has a long and proven track record of investing in Growth Markets, having closed 36 investments since inception. The Firm currently manages over $2.5 billion in assets across seven funds and investment vehicles. Gulf Capital is a thematic investor focused on resilient, forward-looking sectors such as Technology, Fintech, Healthcare, Business Services and Sustainability. The Firm’s mission is to build value with world-class governance, deep expertise, and leading industry best practices to generate sustainable and superior performance for its key stakeholders. Gulf Capital is a signatory of HRH Prince Charles’ sustainable finance charter, Terra Carta, as well as the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investments (UNPRI).
About the Sustainable Markets Initiative:
The Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) aims to lead and accelerate the world’s transition to a sustainable future by putting Nature, People and Planet at the heart of our global value creation. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales launched the SMI at the World Economic Forum 2020 Annual Meeting in Davos and has convened global leaders from across public, private and philanthropic sectors, challenging them to identify ways to accelerate and bring economic value int harmony with social and environmental sustainability.
Since its launch last year, with HRH’s leadership, the SMI, co-chaired by Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, has hosted more than two dozen industry roundtable discussions, bringing hundreds of business leaders together. The SMI has also: engaged with country leaders to support their transition efforts; launched a network of Chief Sustainability Officers; supported the launch of a Natural Capital Fund; and, has launched RE:TV, a content platform showcasing the most inspiring business innovations and ideas for a sustainable future through films curated by editor-in-chief, HRH The Prince of Wales. The Terra Carta will serve as the guiding mandate for the Sustainable Markets Initiative.
