Eurasia Development Holds Its Second ESG Business Session with the UN Global Compact Network Russia

Moscow. Andrey Prokhorovich, CEO of Eurasia Development Group, and Konstantin Matveenkov, Senior Consultant at ED Group, held a two-hour expert session on China’s green development as part of the “Climate and Environmental Agenda for Sustainable Development” project organized by the UN Global Compact Network Russia.

The meeting was attended by representatives of companies including Russian Railways, RUSAL, NOVATEK, VEB.RF and Hevel. ED Group experts presented five key areas for mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and China in green development.

Moscow. Andrey Prokhorovich, CEO of Eurasia Development Group, and Konstantin Matveenkov, Senior Consultant at ED Group, held a two-hour expert session on China’s green development as part of the “Climate and Environmental Agenda for Sustainable Development” project organized by the UN Global Compact Network Russia.

The meeting was attended by representatives of companies including Russian Railways, RUSAL, NOVATEK, VEB.RF and Hevel. ED Group experts presented five key areas for mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and China in green development.

First, the transfer of advanced green technologies from China represents a promising area for cooperation between Russian and Chinese companies.
A clear example is clean energy innovation, where Chinese companies have become global leaders over the past decade, supported by active government policy, the scale of the domestic market and self-sufficient production and supply chains.
Today, Chinese companies account for more than 75% of photovoltaic manufacturing capacity, 60–65% of the global supply chain for wind power components, 60% of global electric vehicle sales and 70% of the production of various types of batteries.
This demonstrates that China has developed a largely self-sufficient market with domestic technologies across numerous areas of clean energy and electric mobility — capabilities that could be leveraged by Russian energy and industrial companies.

Second, China offers a wide range of successful public- and private-sector practices and strategies in green development that could be studied and adapted to the Russian environment.
China’s comprehensive government support for the development of its domestic solar power industry and hydrogen economy provides particularly relevant examples. The decarbonization strategies of Chinese oil major Sinopec and the world’s largest steel producer, Baowu Group, also merit closer examination.

Third, Russia and China can actively cooperate on the development of common ESG standards and the harmonization of ESG requirements for companies.
Like Russia, China is still developing its institutional ESG framework and faces challenges including poor-quality ESG disclosure, as well as fragmented, opaque and largely non-mandatory standards.
Aligning ESG requirements for companies in Russia and China could significantly facilitate access for Russian companies to China’s capital markets.

Fourth, Russian companies could potentially gain access to preferential green financing in China, including loans and bonds.
Over the past five years, green lending in China has tripled to more than $3 trillion, while the country’s green bond market exceeded $387 billion in 2022.
Green financing from China could help reduce Russian companies’ cost of capital and stimulate the deployment of environmental technologies in Russia.

Fifth, another promising area for Russian companies in China is the export of products that can help reduce China’s carbon footprint, including natural gas, hydrogen and green electricity.
Potential importing industries in China include metals, mechanical engineering and petrochemicals.
Chinese companies’ interest is driven not only by the country’s national carbon-neutrality targets but also by their efforts to improve ESG performance and subsequently gain access to preferential green financing.

The ED Group experts’ presentation was the company’s second session hosted by the UN Global Compact Network Russia, following the first session held in April 2023 and dedicated to China’s climate agenda.
ED Group is expected to continue actively participating in the Network’s series of roundtables aimed at developing international cooperation in sustainable development.

Background

The UN Global Compact Network Russia brings together more than 50 of Russia’s largest companies, including Sber, RUSAL, Rosatom, NOVATEK, SIBUR and NLMK.
The Network contributes to creating conditions for long-term sustainable development, strengthening business reputation and competitiveness, and increasing public trust in companies.