Zain’s 2025 Sustainability Report offers a comprehensive overview of the company’s sustainability activities and performance, highlighting both its actual and potential impact across environmental, social, and governance domains. The report also explores how Zain creates, preserves, or erodes value over the short-, medium-, and long-term across the six capitals, Financial, Manufactured, Natural, Human, Intellectual, and Social, the framework developed by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) under the integrated thinking approach.
Report Scope and Timeline:
Headquartered in Kuwait, Zain operates in the following markets: Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and South Sudan, and counts the following key subsidiaries: ZainTECH, TASC Towers and Zain Omantel International (ZOI), all headquartered in the UAE. In Morocco, Zain holds a 15.5% stake through a joint venture, though INWI is not referred to in this report.
In alignment to Zain’s annual report/financial statements, the report is reviewed, assessed, and approved by the company’s Vice-Chairman and Group CEO; Chief Sustainability Officer; Chief Financial Officer; and other executive management members prior to its publication.
It is published on an annual basis and covers the period from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025.
Assurance:
The 2025 Sustainability Report is independently assured by Ernst & Young (Al Aiban, Al Osaimi & Partners) under both Reasonable and Limited Assurance. Last year’s reasonable assurance covered Scope 1 and 2 emissions, where this year’s scope has been expanded to include Scope 3 emissions. Details on the reasonable assurance indicators can be found here.
Alignment of Frameworks:
Zain’s Sustainability Report is developed in alignment to the following disclosure frameworks:
- Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) standards
- Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) with the application of the Telecommunications Sustainability Accounting Standard
- Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD)
- United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGP) on Business and Human Rights Reporting Framework
- ESG Reporting Guide published by Boursa Kuwait
- GSMA ESG Metrics for Mobile
- United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) principles
Zain’s net zero ambition is in line with the Science-Based Targets initiatives (SBTi), where the company’s commitment and targets are validated and approved. In addition, the methodology used to calculate the company’s emissions is based on the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. In addition, Zain aligns its emission factors to the International Energy Agency (IEA) Standards to ensure consistency across all country operations. While the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in Zain’s markets extend to 2050, 2060, or beyond, Zain’s alignment with the SBTi Net Zero Framework, which requires achieving net zero by 2050, ensures consistency with all market-level commitments.
This edition of the report includes certain significant information from previous Sustainability Reports that has been reiterated for context. Repetitive or publicly available information has been excluded to enhance the fluidity of the current report and avoid redundancies. Additionally, the report addresses instances where organizational changes have occurred during the reporting period.
This report is also prepared in accordance with the International Integrated Reporting Framework, embedding the principles of integrated thinking and demonstrating how Zain creates, maintains or erodes value across the six Integrated Thinking Capitals. By adopting this framework, Zain provides a holistic view of how financial and non-financial resources interact across the organization and value chain.
The six capitals referenced throughout the report include:
Financial Capital
The funds available to the organization for deployment in its operations and investments.
Manufactured Capital:
Physical infrastructure and technological assets that support service delivery and innovation.
Intellectual Capital:
Physical infrastructure and technological assets that support service delivery and innovation.
Human Capital:
The competencies, experience, well-being, and development of Zain’s employees.
Social and Relationship Capital:
Stakeholder relationships, community trust, partnerships, and societal impact.
Natural Capital:
The natural resources and environmental ecosystems that Zain depends on and influences.
This report is published on March 30, 2026.
Zain welcomes any comments, feedback, or suggestions regarding the content included in relation to Zain’s sustainability performance.
Please reach out to us on:
EMAIL: group.sustainability@zain.com
Please note that our official email has been updated to group.sustainability@zain.com (previously CS@zain.com) for greater clarity on the division and associated communications.