The Dubai Chamber of Commerce ESG Label has replaced the CSR Label. Who can apply, the four assessed areas, the process, fees, validity and how to get ready.
Part of the reading list: ESG ratings, CSR and supply chains
Updated 23 October 2026: this guide now covers the Dubai Chamber of Commerce ESG Label, which has taken the place of the CSR Label, with its eligibility rule, four assessed areas, application steps, published fees and one year validity.
What the ESG Label is, and who sits behind it
The Dubai Chamber of Commerce ESG Label is a recognition and assessment framework run by the Chamber’s Centre for Responsible Business. The Centre was established in 2004 and promotes corporate social responsibility, sustainability and good governance across the Dubai business community. Dubai Chamber of Commerce is one of the three chambers that operate under Dubai Chambers.
The Chamber describes the label as a framework and developmental tool that helps organisations evaluate their ESG readiness and maturity, gain recognition for their efforts and grow. It was built after a review of regional and global regulation and reporting frameworks, with the business community consulted on its design, and the Chamber presents it as meeting the local and international baseline for ESG reporting and preparedness.
The label is awarded each year. Dubai Chamber of Commerce awarded it to 27 companies in October 2024 and to 56 companies in November 2025.
What changed from the CSR Label
Before the ESG Label, the Centre ran the CSR Label. The Chamber’s results for the first half of 2023 reported awards at three levels: the CSR Label, the Advanced CSR Label and the SMART CSR Label.
The ESG Label has taken its place. In announcing it, the President and CEO of Dubai Chambers said the aim was to encourage businesses to embed sustainability into their core operations and decision making “by shifting the emphasis from corporate social responsibility to ESG labelling”. The Centre’s page now presents the ESG Label and no longer lists the CSR Label.
The practical difference is scope. A CSR evaluation looks mainly at what a company contributes to its community and people. The ESG Label scores environmental, social and governance performance together, and scores Preparedness as a fourth area, in line with the Chamber’s description of the framework as meeting the baseline for ESG reporting and preparedness. The difference between the two ideas is set out in CSR, ESG and sustainability compared.
Who can apply
Organisations of all sizes that have been established for at least two years are eligible. Chamber members and non-members can both apply, with members paying a lower fee.
What the assessment covers
The application is a self-assessment. You score your organisation across four areas: Preparedness, Environment, Social and Governance.
Each score must be supported with written explanations, KPIs, targets and relevant documents or disclosures. An independent assessor then evaluates and validates every score and the evidence behind it. The framework benchmarks your practices against key parameters and against peers in the region and globally.
The questionnaire itself is released once your expression of interest is accepted. Prepare against the four areas and the evidence types above.
The application process
Dubai Chambers sets out four steps.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Access the services portal | Create an account or log in to the Dubai Chambers services portal |
| 2. Submit an expression of interest | A short form with basic details about the organisation |
| 3. Acceptance | The expression of interest is reviewed. Acceptance is confirmed in around three days if you meet the requirements |
| 4. Application | Complete the ESG Label Application Questionnaire, attach the evidence and submit |
Fees
The expression of interest is free. The fee applies when the application is submitted.
| Applicant | Chamber member | Non-member |
|---|---|---|
| SME with fewer than 250 employees | AED 2,000 | AED 3,000 |
| Multinational or more than 250 employees | AED 3,000 | AED 4,000 |
What you receive, and how long it lasts
Organisations that meet the required criteria receive the Dubai Chamber of Commerce ESG Label, a certificate and a detailed feedback report. Every participant receives a report on areas for improvement and a maturity level score based on its overall ESG assessment.
The Chamber publishes no tiers for the ESG Label, unlike the three levels of the CSR Label. Your position is expressed as the maturity level score.
The certificate is valid for one year. Holding the label is therefore an annual commitment, and every claim you submit is one you should expect to evidence again next year.
Why recognition from this institution carries weight
Dubai Chambers is not a trade association that also runs an award. It convenes the emirate’s business community, represents it through its business groups and business councils, and organises the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award, the emirate’s senior recognition of corporate excellence. It also runs the Dubai Centre for Family Businesses.
Two practical consequences follow.
Recognition from an institution travels further than recognition from a scheme. When the body assessing you also convenes the business community and administers the emirate’s most senior business award, its label carries into rooms where a private certificate would not.
Recognition compounds within the same institution. If you later enter the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award, which assesses ESG alongside leadership, strategy and workforce management, an ESG Label and its feedback report from the same institution are directly relevant evidence.
The ESG Label is worth having because of who awards it. A label from the institution that convenes Dubai’s business community travels further locally than a certificate from a scheme nobody in the room has heard of.
How to prepare: score yourself as the assessor will
Self-assessment frameworks reward one discipline above all others: every score you give yourself must survive validation. Prepare each of the four areas against three questions.
Approach. What have you decided to do, and why? Is there a chosen, reasoned position, or a collection of activities? Do the themes connect to your business, and was the decision made by someone with authority to make it? This is where what a CSR strategy actually is still applies, because the ESG Label asks the same question across a wider field.
Deployment. How far has the approach reached? A policy that covers head office and not the warehouses is partially deployed. A target that the Dubai operation tracks and the Sharjah operation has never seen is partially deployed. KPIs and targets are where deployment shows, so the label’s request for them is the test of whether your approach is real.
Review and improvement. Do you look at whether it worked, and does anything change as a result? Evidence of having changed something because a review showed it was not working is disproportionately persuasive, because it can only exist if the review happened.
Preparedness deserves separate attention. It is scored as an area in its own right, and the Chamber ties the framework to the baseline for ESG reporting and preparedness. Use it to evidence board oversight of ESG, assigned responsibilities, a materiality view and a working reporting process. Organisations that already publish an ESG or sustainability report start this area with an advantage. For the reporting side, see our ESG reporting service.
Readiness self check
This takes an afternoon.
Take your five strongest ESG claims across the four areas. For each one, find the best evidence you hold and rank it using the hierarchy in how to prove your CSR actually happened: external award, external written recognition, public disclosure, internal document, internal email, incidental mention.
If your evidence sits mostly at internal document level or below, you are not ready. That is not a reason to drop the idea. It is a reason to spend two or three months collecting external confirmation and setting KPIs and targets for work you already do, before you pay for an assessor to mark down scores you cannot support.
If you hold KPIs with a baseline and a target, external confirmation from partners or authorities, and genuine public disclosure, you are in a position to apply, and the work ahead is assembly rather than repair.
Because the label lasts one year, apply one more test: can you produce the same evidence again in twelve months? Submit only claims that are real and repeatable, which is the test set out in when CSR earns you credibility.
How ESGweise helps
We prepare organisations for ESG evaluations and ratings. That starts with an evidence review across Preparedness, Environment, Social and Governance, which tells you whether to apply this cycle. It continues with closing the gaps an independent assessor would find: governance of ESG, KPIs and targets, and the disclosures that support them.
We are not affiliated with Dubai Chambers or the Centre for Responsible Business, and we do not influence assessment outcomes. Our work makes sure that what you submit is an accurate, well evidenced account of what you do.
See our sustainability strategy, ESG rating improvement and ESG reporting services. If you are weighing the label against an independent audit of your social responsibility practices, read our CSR audit guide for the GCC. Family owned groups should read CSR in a family business first, because family governance is assessed on its own terms.
The evidence review comes before the expression of interest. Speak with our team.
Conclusion
Dubai Chamber of Commerce has moved from the CSR Label to the ESG Label, run by its Centre for Responsible Business. Any organisation established for at least two years can apply. You score yourself across Preparedness, Environment, Social and Governance, an independent assessor validates every score, and the result is a label, a certificate, a feedback report and a maturity score, valid for one year, for a fee of AED 2,000 to AED 4,000. The weight of the institution behind it is what makes it worth pursuing. Apply the readiness test first, because a self-score without evidence will not survive validation.
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Frequently asked questions
Does Dubai Chamber still award the CSR Label?
The Centre for Responsible Business now offers the Dubai Chamber of Commerce ESG Label and no longer lists the CSR Label. When it launched the ESG Label, Dubai Chambers described the change as shifting the emphasis from corporate social responsibility to ESG labelling. The CSR Label was last reported in the Chamber's results for the first half of 2023, which listed awards of the CSR Label, the Advanced CSR Label and the SMART CSR Label.
Who can apply for the Dubai Chamber ESG Label?
Organisations of all sizes that have been established for at least two years. Dubai Chamber of Commerce members and non-members can both apply. The first step is a free expression of interest submitted through the Dubai Chambers services portal.
What does the ESG Label assess?
Applicants complete a self-assessment that scores the organisation across four areas: Preparedness, Environment, Social and Governance. Each score is supported by written explanations, KPIs, targets and relevant documents or disclosures. The framework is benchmarked against peers in the region and globally, and the Chamber describes it as aligned with global best practice and the local and international baseline for ESG reporting and preparedness.
How much does the Dubai Chamber ESG Label cost?
The expression of interest is free. The application fee is AED 2,000 for a member SME with fewer than 250 employees, AED 3,000 for a non-member SME, or for a member that is a multinational or has more than 250 employees, and AED 4,000 for a non-member multinational or non-member with more than 250 employees.
How long is the ESG Label valid?
Dubai Chambers states that the ESG Label certificate is valid for one year once awarded. Plan on the basis that holding the label means reapplying and evidencing your position each year.
Who assesses the application?
An independent assessor evaluates and validates the scores and evidence the applicant submits. Organisations that meet the criteria receive the label, a certificate and a detailed feedback report with a maturity level score.