Our work has changed very little. All the key areas that have been the focus of our efforts in recent years are still in place. These include work to reduce our carbon footprint, water management, implementation of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, development of human rights practices, and support for biodiversity. Sustainability has always been an integral part of our business strategy and a key driver of investment and technological innovation.

We still work with the rating agencies that continue to score or accept information from Russian companies. Last year we worked with CDP and MSCI, and FTSE Russell even raised Polyus’s ESG score from 3.6 to 3.9, placing it in the top 17% of companies in the industry with the best sustainability practices; we also continue working with Sustainalytics and ISS. We also received our first rating from Nature Benchmark in 2022, ranking 21st out of 389 companies in the overall ranking and 8th out of 97 companies in the industry ranking. We also received national rankings and scores: we received high ratings from Expert RA and ACRA in 2022 and continued cooperation with RAEX, AK&M, and RSPP. Their main advantage is a deeper understanding of the domestic regulatory framework and better access to information about Russian companies in the current environment.

Internally, the focus of our work has remained the same, but our work with external audiences has changed. Due to objective reasons, the format and content of our communication with foreign investors has changed. At the same time, unfortunately, the number of international discussion platforms in which we participate has decreased.

Now we are active participants in forums and events in Russia, the CIS, and friendly countries. We continue to cooperate with rating agencies. We are involved in the work of the National ESG Alliance.

MTS’s business has always had a strong social focus. Our mission is to enable communication: to connect people and communities. And this mission transcends time and circumstances. The contribution of our digital technologies to sustainable development of the economy and society is significant: from the creation and maintenance of communication channels and the provision of content for them to comprehensive digital tools and products that contribute to the development and improvement of production processes, promote science, and ensure the security of urban infrastructure. Over the past year, these tasks have become even more relevant to Russian citizens: MTS ecosystem products and social programs focused on the use of IT technologies are developing the digital infrastructure in Russian regions and promoting the integration of technologies into people’s everyday lives.

Today there is a clear trend in the market to shift to Russian centers of expertise. The market for specialized products is growing and rating methodologies are improving. At the same time, where possible, we maintain communication with international institutions that set trends and help perfect ESG data tools. A good example is CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project).

The sustainable development agenda remains our priority. Norilsk Nickel maintains its leading position in the ranking of the most socially responsible companies. We demonstrate the seriousness of our intentions by continuing to implement new and already launched major programs and projects aimed at expanding production, improving the environment, and enhancing the social and economic well-being of the population (the Sulphur Project, Norilsk Renovation, participation in the Clean Air federal program, etc.). The structure and scope of our programs remain the same, but there is an understanding that the timelines for a number of initiatives will be extended due to external geopolitical factors.

At the same time, capital expenditures increased by 55% to a record US$4.3 billion, driven by planned increases in investment in flagship environmental and mining and metallurgy projects and in capital repairs to improve industrial safety and reduce risks.

The daily routine of an ESG professional consists of change management and the implementation of cross-functional projects that enable the integration of ESG principles into all business processes of the company. Equally important is the educational role: ongoing training of employees on ESG principles, support for the ESG ambassador movement, integration of the ESG agenda into corporate projects and programs, etc.

While two years ago we faced considerable skepticism about the need to promote ESG principles, in recent in-house forums, when asked “Why do we need to engage in ESG?” the majority of our employees responded “For our own good”.

We continue to implement climate risk assessment and adaptation projects, develop human rights due diligence mechanisms, and build and scale up our supply chain due diligence management system. The climate agenda remains important: on the one hand, it opens up opportunities for Norilsk Nickel’s metals in the context of the global energy transition; on the other hand, it reinforces the need to monitor risks, primarily related to the thawing of permafrost in the Arctic region, and their potential impact on the continuity of the production cycle.

We are currently actively preparing our 2022 Sustainability Report. This year, for the first time, separate Responsible Supply Chain and Human Rights Reports will be published alongside the main report, and the first Climate Report will be published in the second half of the year.

Not only have we not abandoned our sustainability initiatives, we are stepping up our activities. We have an ESG strategy that is being actively implemented in all sixteen regions where T Plus operates. An environmental strategy is being implemented. In addition, T Plus is developing a social strategy that addresses the following issues: occupational health and safety, human capital management, interaction with local communities, and respect for human rights. It is important for us to change the mindset of the Group’s employees in terms of understanding ESG objectives, in particular, to shift the focus from purely environmental aspects to a set of sustainable development goals.

Currently, the foreign rating agencies that we used to work with, such as Sustainalytics and MSCI, say in response to official inquiries that they have suspended all interaction with companies in the region for an indefinite period of time. However, T Plus believes that the criteria applied by international rating agencies are still relevant for Russian companies, especially since Russian ratings and rankings have similar requirements. Our goal was not to get a rating for the sake of getting a rating; rating is primarily a tool to help companies identify their weaknesses and assist them in implementing sustainable practices.

The responsibilities of an ESG professional include preparing regular sustainability reports, continuously monitoring ESG rating requirements, changes in sustainability laws and standards, and interacting with internal and external stakeholders. However, the main part of the job—implementing ESG policies and engaging people on the topic—is a very exciting process and cannot be described as routine.

As a media company, we have always been somewhat removed from the mainstream ESG agenda. That’s why, before we even started our systemwide ESG efforts, NMG spent six months analyzing international and Russian media practices, and then conducted a comprehensive study to understand which topics and issues could be effective in terms of positive social change. Once we defined where we wanted to go and what we wanted to accomplish, we began our systemwide work in 2020. We chose three main areas in which we wanted to achieve positive social change: the perception of the elderly; youth and their struggles; and education (edutainment and the perception of educators, educational and outreach content). We also defined the main direction for our social responsibility development: socially transformative content. It is important to understand that the most important resource the media has is the ability to create content. That is what we do. And in this sense, little has changed for us.

The focus has not changed. The focus is still on the creation of socially transformative content, its analysis, and the development of educational projects for content creators. For example, in 2021, we held a series of workshops for industry professionals at the Industry School of Film and Television. The workshops were held both offline and online. More than 1,500 people attended in total. In 2022, we expanded the format and created a course for specialized audiences at the Higher School of Economics and opened an Impact Content Lab there.