Sberbank’s Senior Vice President for ESG speaks at the fifth session of the Expert Council for Sustainable Development

Sber has developed a concept of the BRICS Climate Council to ensure sustainable development in the member states, Sberbank’s Senior Vice President for ESG Tatiana Zavyalova said at the BRICS Key Role In The Global Climate Agenda session as part of the fifth session of the Expert Council for Sustainable Development (ECSD).

The BRICS interstate association now includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, UAE, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia. According to Tatiana Zavyalova, eight out of ten of these countries have set goals to achieve carbon neutrality and are implementing large-scale green energy projects, developing responsible finance practices, and creating new carbon markets. The BRICS countries have a significant demographic and economic weight in the world as they have vibrant emerging economies, which in 2027 will account for more than 37% of global GDP in purchasing power parity terms (while the G7 countries will account for only 28%).

Tatiana Zavyalova, senior vice president for ESG, Sberbank:

Sber supports the initiative of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development to launch a specialized platform to discuss climate change issues within the BRICS framework and create an expert platform for climate research. Our previously proposed concept of the Climate Council as a single center for sustainable development in the BRICS countries fits perfectly with the initiative of the Ministry of Economic Development. The key idea of our proposal is to create a coordinating center for practices, solutions, standards, and expertise, engaging a wide range of stakeholders under the patronage of BRICS representatives on climate, green economy, and sustainable development.

Sber is ready to take an active part in organizing and holding the BRICS Climate Agenda in Modern Conditions forum in Moscow. The forum will discuss, among other things, issues related to the prospect of using AI-driven climate solutions and fostering responsible financing practices in the BRICS countries. Sber is ready to co-organize sessions dedicated to these topics.

In November, Baku will host the UN’s climate conference, COP29, which will be an opportunity to demonstrate Russia’s position and the country’s climate achievements to the international community.

Sber is willing to join the preparation of the business agenda and content production for Russia’s stand.

Tatiana Zavyalova, senior vice president for ESG, Sberbank:

In addition to direct involvement in COP29, we propose to implement a joint Russian-Azerbaijani initiative on the Samur River. This river flows along the border of our countries and is one of the main sources of water supply for Baku. Our initiative to conserve biodiversity and protect the water body will become a landmark project, demonstrating effective cooperation between neighboring countries on climate and environmental issues.

The meeting was attended by Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation; Vladimir Ilyichev, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation; Ilya Torosov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation; Nikita Kondratyev, Director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation; Alexander Kirevnin, Director of the Department of Financial and Banking Activities and Investment Development of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation; Ekaterina Salugina-Sorokova, First Vice President of Gazprombank JSC; Nikita Vorobyov, Director for Ecology and Climate at NLMK; Alexander Nazarov, Head of Investor Relations at Novatek; Elena Myakotnikova, Director for Sustainable Development, member of the Executive Committee, JSC RUSAL Management; Oksana Gogunskaya, General Director of JSC Kontur; Igor Makarov, Head of the Climate Change Economics Laboratory at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Head of the Working Group on Sustainability, Human Wellbeing, Environmental and Food Security of the Expert Council on Russia’s BRICS Chairmanship; and others.