ESG-transformation of Russian enterprises

Abstract

Importance: compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals and the implementation of ESG principles become the basis of modern management of the state, individual territories and enterprises. The issues of ESG transformation of Russian enterprises require the inclusion of the main provisions of the ESG agenda in strategic planning and management. Purpose: to determine the readiness of modern Russian enterprises of various industries to implement the ESG approach in their activities and the ability of companies to develop each criterion of the ESG agenda, generalization of the ranking of Russian companies based on existing evaluation methods. Research design: business representatives of various industries share the importance of observing ESG principles, but practical steps in implementing the ESG agenda are typical for enterprises with high environmental and social risks. The authors suggest that companies invest in ESG focusing not only on compliance with environmental and social responsibility, but also expecting the profitability of companies that comply with the principles of ESG to grow. Results: ESG transformation of Russian enterprises requires solving a number of organizational and managerial issues. The stages of implementation of ESG policy are proposed and the reasons preventing its implementation at the enterprise are summarized. It is revealed that the key factors hindering ESG transformation at modern Russian enterprises are the lack of understanding of the economic effect of the implementation of ESG agenda projects, insufficient experience among top management in the implementation of ESG principles, the absence of a single ESG standard and insufficient funds allocated for the implementation of sustainable development of the enterprise. The prospects for the development and implementation of the ESG approach at enterprises are determined.