On February 18, Polyus was pleased to participate in the Sustainable Development and ESG indices online conference hosted by Vedomosti. Victor Drozdov, Head of IR and Communications at Polyus, spoke at the conference, which aimed to examine principles of responsible investment for Russian companies.
Victor Drozdov participated in the panel entitled “ESG factors in the development of investment attractiveness of companies and regions” alongside Anna Belova, Deputy Chair of the Board at AFK Sistema; Tatiana Zavyalova, Senior Vice President for ESG at Sberbank, and Vera Kurochkina, Deputy CEO for Public Relations at En+ Group.
At the panel, Victor discussed the following points:
- Work with ESG ratings
- ESG ratings are usually the starting point for the analysis of a Company’s sustainability performance. Companies need to pay attention to those but should prioritize the ratings that most investors and other stakeholders look at.
- The first step towards improving ESG ratings is to make relevant corporate documents and data are accessible to all interested parties. For this purpose, Polyus has launched a special website.
- It is also important to get various groups within the company involved in disclosing ESG information and assessing rating results.
- Climate strategy
- Polyus is developing its Climate Strategy, based on which by the end of the year it will make commitments to reduce carbon emissions.
- On the way to reducing emissions, the Company has already announced that most of its electricity will come from renewable energy sources in 2021.
Commenting on his participation in the conference, Victor Drozdov said:“I was happy to participate in the discussion at the conference hosted by Vedomosti. It was important for me not only to share Polyus’ experience, but also to hear stories and views on ESG problems from other participants. This kind of brainstorming helps us look at issues from a different angle, and take note of interesting ideas to improve the Company’s performance.”