Ksenia Yudaeva: We are preparing recommendations for boards of directors on ESG-factors accounting.

‘Bank of Russia has already published recommendations for issuing companies that issue shares, bonds on the markets. We have some banks which began to develop their own questionnaires themselves and request information from their borrowers. On the next stages, we should probably think about how to make this practice more widespread and make it compulsory rather than recommended. What else the Bank of Russia is working on in this area: we are currently preparing recommendations for boards of directors on ESG-factors accounting in the activity of organizations. Recommendations on disclosure by financial institutions of information on ESG accounting in the process of offering financial products and services to clients. Recommendations on disclosure of non-financial information by non-credit organizations’ Ksenia Yudaeva, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia said at the discussion session ‘Reaching UNSDGs by 2030: Next Steps’.

‘We're also continuing to deal with the market. Together with the government we are working on the taxonomy of social projects and on the fact that it would be possible to launch green mortgages. Green mortgages need green buildings, those that could attract green loans’ said the expert.

‘The last thing, it seems to me, is that the organizations themselves should not be left out. We, as the Bank of Russia, have set ourselves this task. We have a group that is trying to figure out what kind of contribution the Central Bank could make to the environmental and climate change agenda. They are now preparing an environmental programme’ Ksenia Yudaeva said.