Construction & Real Estate

TRSDC wins ISO certification for environmental management

The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer behind the world’s most ambitious regenerative tourism project, has further established its commitment to protecting and enhancing the 28,000-sq-km project area of The Red Sea Project on the west coast of Saudi Arabia by gaining the Environmental Management Standard, ISO14001:2015 accreditation.
 
In efforts to achieve environmental excellence, TRSDC developed an Environmental Management System (EMS), producing an EMS Manual in January 2021. 
 
The EMS was rolled out company-wide by mid-year 2021, supporting the company’s bid for The Red Sea Project to achieve ISO14001:2015 certification.
 
"This certification is a remarkable achievement and another example of how we are doing things differently to lead the way as we develop this ground-breaking destination," said John Pagano, CEO of TRSDC.
 
"We made a commitment to ourselves, our project and to the Kingdom to go beyond the current expectations of environmental best practice, to deliver a regenerative approach to tourism development. This latest accolade is proof that we are doing all we can to become standard-bearers for Saudi Arabia," he added. 
 
TRSDC’s EMS is aimed at guiding and managing TRSDC’s activities with respect to the environment throughout design, construction, and operational stages. The implementation of the EMS allows TRSDC to identify areas in need of improvement and actively work towards bettering them.   
 
In November 2021, the British Standards Institution (BSI), a world-class certifying body for global best practice standards, was appointed to audit TRSDC’s EMS against the world’s most recognized environmental management standards ISO14001:2015, with no observations recorded.
 
TRSDC maintains compliancy to national environmental standards by ensuring its environmental studies and management plans are of the highest quality, constantly working towards developing guidelines and procedures for internal and external use with stakeholders to achieve environmental excellence. 
 
"Achieving this certification is rewarding for our team, who work tirelessly to deliver against our commitments to the environment in which we are working," remarked Raed Albasseet, Chief Environment and Sustainability Officer at TRSDC.
 
In 2021, the organisation became one of the first companies in the Middle East to achieve the ISO 9001:2015 certification for quality management for design and construction of assets.
 
TRSDC was also awarded ISO31000:2018 certification, the International Organization for Standardization’s highest available standard in risk management and the ISO 27001 certification, a globally recognised standard for information security management systems.
 
The company recently announced that it has achieved financial close on its SR14.1 billion ($3.76 billion) term loan facility and revolving credit facility with four leading Saudi banks. 
Green Financing accreditation was awarded due to TRSDC’s market leading approach to social and environmental sustainability and The Red Sea Project’s (TRSP) international recognition as a green project.
 
The Red Sea Project has already passed significant milestones and work is on track to welcome the first guests by the end of 2022. Phase one, which includes 16 hotels in total, will complete in 2023.
 
Upon completion in 2030, The Red Sea Project will comprise 50 resorts, offering up to 8,000 hotel rooms and more than 1,000 residential properties across 22 islands and six inland sites. The destination will also include an international airport, luxury marinas, golf courses, entertainment, and leisure facilities.