Petroleum Development Oman and Principle 6 of UN Agenda - Essay Example

The sustainable development initiative in the Arab region made significant accomplishments though there are obstacles ranging from poverty, illiteracy, population growth, debt, dry land, limited water resources, and less agricultural land. The steps taken in the Arab nations were mainly aimed at ensuring peace and security, protecting the environment and natural resources, developing an institutional framework for sustainable development, poverty alleviation, population health through sanitary services, clean water and food, and education (The Sustainable Development Initiative in the Arab Region).

Petroleum Development Oman has adopted the path of sustainable development throughout all these years. The organization considers the three pillars of sustainable development; people, profit, and the planet as the central themes of development. The PDO has developed six sustainable principles based on sustainable development ideology. They are; protecting the environment, managing resources efficiently, respecting and safeguarding people, working with stakeholders, generating profitability, and benefiting communities (PDO website).

The first step in this regard is seen in the education and training initiatives of the company. As PDO claims, it helps students to complete their secondary education in government schools. In addition, it runs a vocational training Centre in Fahud for local people. Moreover, university students are allowed summer internships in PDO for better training. Furthermore, it has established a Centre for Bone-carving Craft and another one for Veterinary Care. Some others things worth mentioning are the Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre, the Planetarium, the Public Knowledge Library, and the Traffic Safety Institute.

From these, the contribution from the part of PDO in improving the educational standards in Oman is clear. As an obligation towards the local community, PDO starts health clinics and delivers potable water to communities in the nearby area. In addition, the company provides job opportunities to the local people and engages in other corporate social investment projects like providing educational materials and information technology for the visually impaired. Moreover, as PDO claims, it provides around 500 grants and donations a year along with numerous other conferences and exhibitions.

The most aggressive step initiated by PDO worth mentioning is the Greening the Desert Project. As a part of this project, the saline process water which is produced along with the oil is filtered using reed beds, and the filtered water is used to irrigate bio-saline trees and bushes. Thus, wastewater is used for socio, economic and ecological benefits. As a measure to reduce its environmental impact, PDO started using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify and analyze the geography of any area before the project is initiated (Philanthropy).

This shows PDO’s willingness to deal with the local environment and local people in the least harmful way. In addition, as a part of its health safety environment and sustainable development policy, the organization has produced specific guidelines restricting noise and vibration production at a level that harms human health and the environment (Health Safety Environment and Sustainable Development, Petroleum Development Oman LLC). As a part of its effort to contribute positively to society, PDO started its Local Community Contractors initiative.

This provided the people in the concession area an opportunity to establish their own companies for providing services to PDO, thus boosting the local economy. In addition, PDO employs locals in large numbers.