Approbation of Approaches to Assessment of ESG Risks of Russian Companies at the Regional Level

Abstract

Climate change is a serious, widespread threat and requires an urgent global response, including in the management of environmental risks. The authors of the study, the results of which are presented in this article, first of all, set the task of assessing the ESG risks of Russian companies at the regional level. The methodology of the study was based only on the analysis of environmental risks due to the historical features of the development of the Russian Federation, the approach of S&P Global in the field of corporate sustainability assessment was adopted, and then the initial values of the companies ‘ E-ratings were adjusted using the impact map developed by the United Nations. To test the proposed approach to assessing environmental risks, we used a sample of data on types of economic activity in the context of the subjects of the Russian Federation. As a result of applying the proposed approach to data sampling, companies were assigned to one of the three categories that determine their exposure to E-risk: high, moderate, and low environmental risk. The E-risk exposure was also assessed based on the company’s regional affiliation to the relevant federal district. The main conclusion of the study was the confirmation of the need to improve the quality of analytics of companies ‘ exposure to environmental risks, the need for more detailed information disclosed by companies.