JLL appoints Alida Saleh as Head of Sustainability for Middle East & Africa

JLL, a leading professional services firm specialized in real estate, investment management, and development consultancy services, today announced the appointment of Alida Saleh as Head of Sustainability for the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region.

In her new role, Alida will lead the company’s sustainability strategy in the region with a strong focus on advancing environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy while enhancing its sustainability services and offerings for clients. The company’s sustainability program highlights its commitment to driving climate action for sustainable real estate, creating safe and healthy spaces for all people and providing inclusive places that create equal opportunities for thriving communities.

With net zero targets on the horizon, the real estate sector is accelerating efforts to reduce its impact on the environment. Sustainability consulting services will play an integral role in driving social and environmental transformation to create and support prosperous economies, flourishing societies, and the health and management of the environment. Alida’s appointment comes at a time when companies across various sectors are gearing up to fulfil climate pledges and carbon emission goals, and ahead of the UAE hosting the COP28 climate summit this year.

“JLL was the first real estate company in the world with a net-zero target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, demonstrating our commitment to sustainability which is ingrained in our purpose to shape the future of real estate for a better world,” said Thierry Delvaux, CEO of JLL for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey. “As we continue to drive our sustainability ambition for our business and our clients, Alida’s expertise in developing net zero strategies to help build a best-in-class environmental, social and governance (ESG) function with a differentiated approach will be critical.”

Commenting on her new role, Alida Saleh, Head of Sustainability of JLL for the Middle East & Africa said: “Over my 15-year career, I have helped various organizations by driving innovative solutions to one of the greatest challenges – financing the transition to a low carbon economy. Today, we are at a critical point where clients across industries are looking to advance their ESG priorities, and I am excited to bring my experience to JLL to drive its sustainability strategy in the region and beyond.”

Alida currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the UNFCCC Climate Champions Built Environment team, led by UN High Level Champion for COP28, H.E. Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak.

Alida, who has extensive experience transforming organization on a global scale across USA, Canada, the Middle East and Africa, China and more, has served on the board of the Canadian Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory Board with the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canada, as well as the Harvard Sustainable infrastructure advisory board where she was one of the founding members and technical experts responsible for the development of the Envision Sustainable infrastructure rating system.