On March 28, 2024, Moscow – ESG Alliance launched an Index for assessing the quality of life of small and medium-sized industrial cities in Russia with a population of less than 100,000 people. To date, the Index's perimeter includes 120 cities in 46 regions with a total population of 6.8 million people.
The assessment was carried out on 70 indicators of four main types: statistical data, open information from Internet sources, requested data from regional authorities and the results of a sociological study among employees of the Alliance companies. Based on the results of the study, a comprehensive profile was formed for each locality.
The platform's functionality allows clustering based on population size and per capita income. Within clusters, statistical indicators for cities can be compared with each other.
"The Alliance Index was developed based on the recommendations of the OECD and the methodologies of the VEB.RF Index. At the WEB Index.In the Russian Federation, we borrowed a structure covering 11 areas. Further, on the basis of the ESG committee Under the leadership of Metalloinvest, we have harmonized a set of indicators specifically taking into account the business practices of the business. The development of small and medium-sized cities is seen as a priority both for the state and for companies in these territories, which are trying to solve issues related to the quality of life of the population together with the municipal authorities. Moreover, most of these issues are real problems affecting the business performance of companies and their long–term financial stability, for example, the outflow of population and youth, staff shortages, and intense competition for them," commented the CEO of ESG Andrei Sharonov of the Alliance.
The Alliance index will allow businesses, based on up-to-date, updated data, to assess the effectiveness of social investments in the territory of their presence, plan solutions for the future, and build a dialogue with local authorities to determine the most priority areas of work. The index is publicly available and is intended for companies, their current and potential employees, municipal and regional authorities, local communities, public associations and NGOs.
"The ESG index of the Alliance is a valuable tool for planning and evaluating the effectiveness of social investments, which is necessary for both businesses and territories. It is important that municipalities analyze both the final result of the Index and its individual indicators in order to influence their improvement. We intend to support the city administrations in this work, we will hold presentations of the Index and training seminars," said Yulia Mazanova, head of the ESG Committee of the Alliance for Social Responsibility, Deputy Director General for Sustainable Development and Corporate Communications at Metalloinvest.
An end-to-end methodology created at the request of business and harmonized by twenty large companies from various sectors of the economy based on ESG The Alliance will provide a further opportunity to apply this methodology to any small and medium-sized city in Russia. This means that it will allow any large company to evaluate its own small and medium-sized territories of presence using this publicly available tool.
Metalloinvest joined the ESG Alliance in December 2021. The organization is conceived as a permanent platform for dialogue and involvement of all stakeholders, the exchange of knowledge and experience between various business sectors, government and society, the development and promotion of new norms and standards in the field of ESG, including industry guidelines, the formation of a common framework for assessment and reporting in this area, the development of transformative partnerships, interaction and implementation common programs to achieve sustainable development goals, investment support for breakthrough projects focused on ESG transformation.
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