Climate Change and GHG Emissions
Salik’s approach to climate change is aligned with the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 direction and Dubai’s sustainable mobility priorities. By enabling barrier-free tolling, the Company helps reduce vehicle idling and improve traffic flow, contributing to lower vehicle emissions along key corridors. Within its own operations, Salik is reducing the carbon intensity of its infrastructure by expanding renewable electricity use, improving energy efficiency, and strengthening resilience to climate-related risks to protect service continuity.
Salik’s climate‑related efforts sit within its broader environmental stewardship agenda and align with national and local priorities, including the UAE National Energy Strategy 2050, the UAE Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, and the Green Mobility Strategy 2030.
Governance of climate‑related matters sits with Salik’s Board of Directors and executive management. The Nomination, Remuneration, and ESG Committee monitors climate considerations, and these topics are discussed annually at Board meetings. To support execution, Salik has appointed the Director of Strategy, Growth & ESG at a senior management level to lead the development and implementation of the Company’s ESG strategy, including climate‑related initiatives.
By design, Salik’s barrier‑free tolling helps reduce congestion and vehicle idling, supporting lower fuel consumption and vehicle emissions in key corridors. An independent analysis by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) prior to the launch of new toll gates highlights the mobility efficiency impact of the tolling system, including 6 million hours of reduced travel time annually, a 26% decrease in traffic volumes on critical bridges, and a 24% improvement in journey times on major highways (including Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Ittihad Street).
Salik’s current climate-related focus is on reducing reliance on non-renewable energy sources for toll gate operations and minimising electricity consumption across its assets.
The Company also supports lower‑carbon mobility through digital, barrier‑less and ticketless parking solutions, which help improve traffic flow and reduce paper consumption. In parallel, Salik continues to strengthen its broader approach to climate‑related considerations as part of its evolving sustainability framework.
Turning goals into action
Scaling the solar power use
Salik continues to scale the use of solar power within its tolling infrastructure to reduce reliance on grid electricity. Today, three out of ten toll gates use solar power to cover part of their energy needs, and Salik aims to ensure that the future gates will also be powered by solar energy.
Salik’s Jebel Ali toll gate served as the pilot site, where solar energy was integrated to cover 18% of the gate’s power needs for 2025. Building on this experience, the two new toll gates introduced in 2024—Business Bay Crossing and Al Safa South—were designed with solar power as a core energy source. When on‑site generation exceeds consumption, the surplus is exported to the DEWA grid through Shams Dubai net metering initiative. When solar output is insufficient (e.g., at night or during low‑irradiance periods), the toll gate draws the required electricity from the DEWA grid to ensure uninterrupted operations.
In 2025, Salik’s three solar‑enabled toll gates generated 181,837 kWh of renewable electricity. Of this, 76,581.6 kWh was consumed on‑site, reducing grid electricity imports and resulting in an estimated approximately 31 tCO2e reduction in Scope 2 emissions. A further 105,255.4 kWh was exported to the DEWA grid under the Shams Dubai net metering programme. As this electricity is delivered to the grid and lies outside Salik’s operational boundary, it corresponds to approximately 42.6 tCO2e of avoided emissions.
Enabling paperless transactions
Salik continues to reduce emissions through its digital‑first operating model, minimising reliance on physical documentation and in‑person processing. Since the transition to fully digital tag registration, approximately 1.2 million paper forms per year have been avoided compared to the previous manual process (equivalent to around 5.2 tonnes of paper annually).
In 2025, the continued use of the paperless registration model avoided an estimated 15.3 tCO2e. On average, each transaction completed digitally instead of through a service centre reduced travel‑related emissions by approximately 6 kg CO2e per transaction.
Supporting electric vehicles
To encourage the adoption of electric vehicles, Salik exempts their owners from paying the tag activation fee. By 31 December 2025, the number of EVs with free tags increased by 2% compared to 2024. Salik reported that it granted 18,125 tag activation fee exemptions to EV owners in 2025.
- 181,837 kWh renewable electricity generated
- ↨ 23,319 in financial savings
- 31 tCO2e reduction in Scope 2 emissions from onsite solar use
Climate‑related risks
Salik recognises that climate change may increase the frequency of extreme weather events and other physical risks that could affect operations, infrastructure and workforce safety. Managing these risks is embedded into the Company’s operational resilience approach, underpinned by business continuity planning and crisis management protocols. Protection measures are incorporated into the design criteria of key assets, including toll gates and data centres, and response arrangements are supported by well‑established crisis management procedures in coordination with the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to enable timely identification of events and mitigation of potential impacts. Adequate insurance coverage is maintained to address potential physical damage to assets and any resultant interruption losses.
Salik also conducts emerging risk workshops for employees and regularly assesses physical and IT infrastructure to identify vulnerabilities and strengthen resilience against climate‑related disruptions. In parallel, the Company is working towards establishing climate scenario analysis capabilities and further integrating climate‑related considerations into enterprise risk assessments and long‑term infrastructure planning.
Salik is also in the process of revisiting its materiality assessment to reflect changes in internal and external context, including climate‑related factors, and to determine whether any additional actions are required to strengthen its approach to understanding and managing climate risks.
GHG emissions
Salik’s GHG inventory is prepared in line with recognised international approaches, including the GHG Protocol corporate standard and ISO‑aligned principles applied in the Company’s reporting.
At the operational level, Salik’s GHG emissions are relatively low and primarily associated with electricity consumption for toll gate operations, office spaces, and supporting technology infrastructure (including data-centre-related activities). Scope 1 emissions mainly arise from fuel consumed by Company-owned vehicles. Refrigerant leakage from the centralised air-conditioning system was assessed as part of the Scope 1 boundary review. As Salik operates from leased office space within a centrally managed building, the HVAC system is owned and maintained by building management and is not under the Company’s operational control; accordingly, related emissions were excluded from the Scope 1 inventory. In 2025, Scope 1 emissions increased year-on-year, primarily due to higher fuel consumption resulting from increased operational travel and greater utilisation of company vehicles in line with expanded business activitiesThe DEFRA emission factor 2025 was used to account for Scope 1 emissions from petrol consumption of the company‑owned vehicles..
Scope 2 emissions are calculated from grid electricity consumption using the location-based methodFor Scope 2 emissions, the DEWA Grid Emission Factor 2024 was used, reflecting the carbon intensity associated with electricity consumption from the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s grid. The energy generated by solar panels.. In 2025, Scope 2 emissions increased by 4.92%, driven by the expansion of operations and workforce. As a result, the sum of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions increased by 8.6%. Despite the year‑on‑year increase in absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 suggested to include emission intensity per gate revenue growth outpaced emissions growth. As a result, Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions intensity fell by 19.6% to 154.0 gCO2e per ↨ 1,000 of revenue (2024 restated: 191.63.0 gCO2e).
In 2025, Salik expanded its GHG inventory to include selected Scope 3 categories, aligned with the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard. Categories were screened for relevance to Salik’s business model and value chain. The current inventory covers Category 5 (waste generated in operations), Category 6 (business travel), Category 7 (employee commuting), Category 8 (upstream leased assets), and Category 12 (end‑of‑life treatment of sold products).
Emissions were quantified using category‑appropriate calculation methods consistent with GHG Protocol guidance: activity‑based approachs for waste and end‑of‑life treatment, spend‑based approach for business travel, distance‑based approach for employee commuting, and an area‑based approach for upstream leased assets. Emission factors were sourced from recognised references, including DEFRA conversion factors and applicable regional factors.
Following the screening, Categories 1–4 were assessed as applicable and are planned for progressive inclusion as data quality and coverage improve. Categories 9–11 and 13–15 were assessed as not relevant to Salik’s business model (e.g., no downstream transportation and distribution of sold products; no processing or use of sold products; no downstream leased assets; no franchise operations; no material investment portfolio emissions relevant for reporting). The Scope 3 inventory reflects both screening outcomes and the availability of reliable data during the reporting period. The Company will continue to enhance value‑chain data collection and incorporate additional applicable categories as reporting processes mature.
Total GHG emissions in 2025, including Scope 3, amounted to 1,053.29 tCO2e. Given this addition, total GHG emissions intensity stood at 340.1 gCO2e per ↨ 1,000 of revenue.