Experts for the fifth time presented the results of the annual rating “Polar Index. Companies” on September 5, 2022 at the Moscow State University, according to an article published on the website of the Project Office for Arctic Development. The first place in the rating was taken by Nornickel, the second place was won by Rosneft, and T Plus, a power generating company took bronze. In 2021, the rating was headed by SIBUR Holding, Lukoil and Novatek.
The leaders are changed due to a new methodology for calculating. In 2022, researchers applied a completely new, open calculation methodology based on 24 characteristics that reflect all aspects of sustainable development. At the same time, all the characteristics are still combined into three integral groups of indicators: economic and environmental, socio-economic and socio-environmental - 8 indicators each. The rating covers 22 large public companies operating in the Arctic. Among the participants are 9 oil and gas, 3 metallurgical, 3 petrochemical companies, 2 energy concerns, one diamond mining, one shipbuilding and one transport companies, a state nuclear energy corporation and a seaport.
“Russia is the largest and most populated part of the Arctic. Saving the especially fragile, vulnerable Arctic nature is a global challenge not only for the state, but also for major economic players. At the same time, it is equally important to take into account the interests of people living in the North, as well as to ensure the steady economy development of this harsh region. That is why the methodology of the Polar Index is based on the balance of all sustainable development characteristics - its environmental, social and economic elements,” says Pavel Sukhov, Project Office for Arctic Development CEO.
“In the current difficult geopolitical situation, when many Russian companies from our rating are under sanctions, large Arctic companies continue to follow the sustainable development and implement the green principles in their activities. The Polar Index not only stimulates the sustainable development strategies and ESG approaches to management by the large Arctic companies. We see it as a helping tool. Thanks to the rating, business entities will be able to see the “bottlenecks” in their sustainable development and fine-tune their policies in this area, where the unconditional priority is the balance between improving economic performance, caring for people and their settlements and protecting nature,” explains Professor Sergei Nikonorov, who heads the Project Group at the Economics Department, Moscow State University.
The Polar Index project is a joint development of the Project Office for Arctic Development and the Chair of Environmental Economics of the Moscow State University Economics Department. “Polar index. Companies” became the first specialized rating of Arctic companies in Russia. The Polar Index is updated based on open-source data and expert judgment.
