Moscow hosts “Challenges 2030. Sustainable Development of Regions” Conference

The conference held in early July was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the ESG and Sustainable Development Committee of the Association of Managers. The event attracted a wide range of participants among which were representatives of Norilsk Nickel, including Senior Vice President Larisa Zelkova, Vice President Vladimir Zhukov, Director of the Polar Transportation Branch of the company Alexei Novakov and Head of Regional Programmes Vasily Zakharov. 
The speakers, in particular, noted that the ESG practices had already taken root in the business models of the major Russian companies and had begun to penetrate into medium-sized businesses. Nowadays, under the external restrictions but taking into account the internal request, it is expected that the focus will be on the development of Russian ESG programmes, Russian approaches, standards and practices, including the development of regional projects in this area.
The speeches also emphasized that the ESG agenda was related to the quality of living and the quality of the economy in which the country’s population lived, and therefore, it was important to understand how this agenda met the interests of people, and in this regard, the environmental performance, climate and corporate governance were of absolute importance.
At the conference, the idea was expressed that in the near future, banks would determine the ESG agenda in Russia, as evidenced by the analysis of ESG practices (conducted by the Expert RA agency) in the real and financial sectors among rated companies, which showed that one third of the top 20 banks had already introduced ESG indicators in their lending and investment processes - one way or another.
During the discussion, the first results of a study of the philanthropic sector in Russia were presented. The study showed that currently, the lion’s share of the market (75%) was corporate philanthropy. The donations of individuals (20%) ranked second, which coincided with the figures of China and significantly exceeded the volume of donations from individuals in the rest of the world. It was mentioned that another difference from developed countries was that philanthropy in Russia was aimed at solving specific social problems. Full data obtained in the study will be presented in September.
The socio-economic development of the Arctic also became the subject of discussion by the participants of the round table. It was noted that warming in the Arctic zone resulted in changes in the natural environment and might have a negative impact on the traditional way of living of the indigenous minorities of the North; that was why the business representatives should pay more attention to this problem and do not curtail programmes to support indigenous minorities despite difficult economic problems.
At the same time, it was also said that the indigenous minorities of the North, Siberia and the Far East should not be considered solely as subjects to which some businesses’ patronage actions should be directed. Before offering any help to the indigenous minorities, they should always be asked if they need help and what kind of help. The interaction between business and indigenous minorities should be in a dialogue.