2 September 2021
CONCLUSIONS
Implementing ESG is a global trend in corporate development
“From my point of view, when it comes to companies that are looking to the future and aiming to be attractive to investors, there is no question of whether to implement ESG or not. According to research done by McKinsey, companies with ESG in their agenda are worth an average of 10% more than those companies without. This is a global trend, and I have to agree with it,” Alexander Liberov, President, Siemens in Russia.
“What we call the ESG revolution is a transformation of our expectations and demands with regards to social issues and environmental protection,” John Mulligan, Climate Change Lead and Market Relations, World Gold Council.
“It is the improvement of human habitats, improving the quality of life of the enterprise’s employees, creating conditions under which highly skilled employees want to move to manufacturing cities that are sometimes not very attractive,” Yuliya Shabala, Deputy Director General for Sustainable Development and Corporate Affairs, Udokan Copper.
Manufacturing organizations around the world are currently focused on reducing environmental impact
“The main driver for institutional investors is, of course, climate change. Over the last 4 to 5 years we have developed a special programme that uses our knowledge to influence the industry. We understand how the gold mining sector can be decarbonized to reduce impact on the climate,” John Mulligan, Climate Change Lead and Market Relations, World Gold Council.
“Climate change remains a key concern for us. Polyus participated in an ICMM study on adapting to climate change published in 2019. A separate subject, which is currently being addressed individually, but which ICMM is currently working on, is the transition to renewable energy sources. Thanks to investments that we started implementing in 2015, this year we were able to transition to 100% renewable sources of energy, including hydrogeneration by signing direct contracts with RusHydro stations,” Pavel Grachev, Chief Executive Officer, Polyus.
PROBLEMS
Climate change is occurring more rapidly than earlier forecasts anticipated
“Scientists have shown that climate change is occurring rather intensely, at a pace that exceeds what was predicted 5 to 10 years ago. Subjectively speaking, it seemed like discussions at the World Economic Forum concerning the climate agenda increased about five-fold. Accordingly, global goals have to become more ambitious, including on the corporate level,” Sergey Komyshan, Executive Director for Marketing and Sales, Procurement, Innovation and Business Development, SIBUR.
There are infrastructure limitations for implementing new technologies and innovations
“When you launch a new enterprise, you have an investment cycle of 10 to 15 years, and investing immediately in modernization, in transitioning to hydrogen or installing carbon capture solutions at the investment stage is fairly problematic. Which is why the greenfield projects in the Russian Far East have their own specific needs. Metallurgy is an energy-intensive industry and renewable sources of energy are limited in the Russian Far East. Especially when general access to electricity is already a big windfall. Though we understand that we didn’t even have general access a decade ago. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the rules of the game: it is impossible to operate and be integrated into the global metallurgical industry without ESG,” Yuliya Shabala, Deputy Director General for Sustainable Development and Corporate Affairs, Udokan Copper.
“In Russia, electric vehicles are a fairly new concept, but they are groundbreaking. The issue is infrastructure. Without it, in my opinion, people won't buy electric automobiles. Today we’re looking at 200–300 electrical charging stations, and I see a major opportunity for the market here: increasing it to 9,000,” Alexander Liberov, President, Siemens in Russia.
SOLUTIONS
Intra- and inter-industry cooperation when implementing ESG practices in manufacturing
“Environmental issues are of particular importance at the moment. The environment, much like COVID-19, knows no political boundaries. This issue must be addressed by working together, comprehensively,” Alexander Liberov, President, Siemens in Russia.
“To us, international cooperation is finding out what is going on around us and acquiring the valuable information, statistics, and practices that are available to our industry colleagues. At the same time we share our own knowledge, consult with other companies, and this has its own social function,” Pavel Grachev, Chief Executive Officer, Polyus.
Implementing innovations in manufacturing, reducing environmental risk
“The only way to improve the situation is implementing innovative breakthrough technologies, implementing them into our lives and improving the efficiency of the processes that we encounter every day. If we are talking about Siemens as a global company, then ESG is the foundation of our company’s global strategy. We make it a goal to contribute to addressing the issue, so that the annual temperature increase does not exceed 1.5°. It includes reducing our carbon footprint to 0 by 2050, but we have a benchmark of reducing it by 20% by 2030,” Alexander Liberov, President, Siemens in Russia.
“We're seeing that it's very important to develop technologies in producing green or blue hydrogen using power generation based on renewable sources of energy. Using hydrogen in these processes allows us to address the issue of using CO2 for producing goods and materials that humans need. Taking into account that the oil and gas industry can serve as a source of hydrogen and the petrochemical industry can serve as consumers, this intra-industry connection is very important,” Sergey Komyshan, Executive Director for Marketing and Sales, Procurement, Innovation and Business Development, SIBUR.
09 February 2024
The Carbon Unit Game: A New Environmental Monopoly?
The Roscongress Foundation prepared a report entitled ‘Carbon Neutrality: Saving the Planet or an Economic Weapon?’ on the prospects for managing greenhouse gas emissions to achieve the overall goals of combating global warming.
06 March 2024
Selection Underway for Third Installment of Far East State Management Personnel Training Programme
The Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic has teamed up with the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation to implement the ‘Muravyov-Amursky 2030’ management programme, providing training for the civil service and development institutions of the Far East.
28 March 2024
Great Bustard Exploring Kalmykia’s Steppe
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, VNII Ecologia, the Government of the Republic of Kalmykia, the Roscongress Foundation and Kamchatka Falcon Centre, with the participation of experts and foundations from the Gulf countries, continue to work on the implementation of the order of the President of the Russian Federation and the comprehensive action plan for the establishment of Russian centres for the reintroduction and conservation of falconiform birds in Kamchatka Territory and bustards in the Republic of Kalmykia.
