Читать книгу Позитивные изменения. Том 4, №1 (2024). Positive changes. Volume 4, Issue 1 (2024) онлайн

In 2022, Vladimir Putin, after convening with members of the Business Russia organization, directed the Russian Government to “explore defining criteria for classifying investment projects in line with the standards of environmental, social, and governance responsibility (ESG), and to consider state support for such project participants.”[20]

WANING INTEREST IN ESG AND DEVELOPING A LOCALIZED AGENDA

In 2023, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation conducted an evaluation of the UN SDGs ratified by Russia in its 85 regions and acknowledged positive trends in the majority of indicators.[21] Yet, the actual understanding of SDGs within the regions, as well as public awareness of the topic, remains at a modest level, with the implementation by local authorities being highly contingent upon regional specificity and the engagement of senior officials.

Based on a 2023 study by hh.ru and the ecological service “Save the Forest,” it appears that the majority of Russia’s economic sectors have decreased the salaries of ESG specialists and scaled back their recruitment.[22]

The reality is, despite the ratification of UN SDGs by Russia, the national ESG agenda as a basis for financial stability – upon which large investments were forecasted and decisions for significant international financial dealings were made – has seen substantial shifts over the past couple of years. Consequently, the nation’s leading figures have repeatedly emphasized the necessity of creating a bespoke, local ESG agenda.

By mid-2023, Russia had established the conditions necessary for reevaluating and forming a novel concept, one that would naturally incorporate a human-centered, social agenda addressing the development of transparency and engagement with society, inclusivity, support of volunteer and other civic initiatives, and the overall contribution to and assessment of positive social changes. This approach rests on a broader comprehension of sustainable development, not restricted to a narrow set of ESG benchmarks. Let us now consider a number of recent initiatives that have been introduced, fostering the development of the ESG discourse in Russia.