Natalya Tretyak, First Vice President of Gazprombank JSC, spoke about the importance of the first International Congress on Sustainable Finance: Ecumene 2021 held in Moscow.
Like many recent events, the Ecumene 2021 Congress was held in a hybrid format. Some of the speakers met at the venue, while others participated in online discussions. Discussions focused on the climate agenda, the changing economic model, and ways to manage new financial risks arising from the global trend away from dirty energy sources.
According to participants, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will require trillions of dollars in investments, as well as the formation of common, understandable rules for everyone. Countries must agree on an environmental impact assessment and compensation mechanisms. The Congress was supported by the UN with Gazprombank JSC as the general partner.
ПIt is extremely important that representatives of Russia took part in the discussion, says Natalya Tretyak, First Vice President of Gazprombank JSC.
‘Basically, the task of this Congress is to include Russia into the global agenda of the transition to sustainable development, including Russia, because it is no secret that Russia has a huge impact on the environment and the climate around the world, which is based on the size of our territories, the wealth of resources. And the second thing we wanted to talk about is the mutual opportunities that the international community and international initiatives can provide for the Russian business, and what interest the Russian business can be for the international responsible investors’ – she explained.
In the context of the transition to green energy, risks, including those of a financial nature, arise for traditional, established businesses that are in one way or another are associated with harmful emissions. For example, investors in various countries are gradually turning away from investments in dirty assets. And this is one of the reasons why Gazprombank JSC pays more and more attention to sustainability issues.
‘More than 50 000 representatives of large Russian businesses have chosen us as their financial partner, and a high proportion of these clients work in carbon-intensive industries. And, of course, it is very important for us to help our clients transform, change, reduce their negative impact, increase their efficiency and make them remain sustainable and profitable for a long period of time, because this is what the bank's business depends on, among other things’ said Tretyak.
Gazprombank JSC itself is also changing in line with the new challenges.
‘During the year we carried out quite a serious transformation inside the bank. In particular, we formed an ESG management system. We took the issue of information disclosure very seriously. In particular, this year we published our first non-financial report. Of course, we will continue to transform and expand the line of green products for both the corporate sector and retail, and work on the internal corporate culture of our employees’ concluded Tretyak.
Ecumene 2021 participants believe that the principles of sustainable development today should be included in the philosophy of business, and Russia – in the international ESG agenda.
International Congress on Sustainable Finance: ECUMENE 2021 is supported by the United Nations. The general partner of the event is Gazprombank JSC.
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