On December 3, in the Moscow Manege, at the International Forum of Civil Participation #MYVMESTE, an off-site, open meeting of the Council of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation on sustainable business development, corporate social responsibility and volunteering took place.
It was attended by the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation Sergey Kiriyenko, President of the Chamber Sergei Katyrin, Vice President of the Chamber Maxim Fateev, Director of the Regional Development Department of the Chamber Ilya Zubkov, as well as members of the Council, guests and participants of the # MYVMESTE Forum.
In his opening remarks, Sergei Kiriyenko emphasized that the Chamber is fulfilling important tasks for the state and thanked the members of the Council for the work carried out and the initiative shown.
Sergei Kiriyenko noted that the situation with the pandemic has once again confirmed: in the modern world, business efficiency is largely determined not only by financial results, but also by its social mission, the ability to influence the pressing problems of society. Many companies are already actively integrating sustainable development goals into their business strategies, and sustainable development and social responsibility are becoming the basis for the long-term operation of the business, he stressed.
Global challenges (including environmental degradation, climate change, rapid technological renewal) place new demands on government institutions, international organizations and business, including the non-profit sector. Business today is fully responsible for what the world will be like tomorrow and what the next generations will face, says the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation.
According to Sergei Kiriyenko, “we are faced with the task of not only reconfiguring individual management and production processes, but also forming a new business and social culture, the development of which is based not on competition, but on effective cooperation”.
The companies whose representatives are represented on the Council have unique expertise and have something to share, I am sure the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, this is the strength of such public platforms as the Council.
In his speech, Sergey Katyrin recalled that since 2017, the social responsibility of the CCI has been enshrined in the Standard of its activities. In 2020, the Chamber held 627 charitable events, in 2021 - more than 450.
In the fall, we developed a system of indicators and conducted an internal audit of the contribution that the system of chambers of commerce and industry makes to the achievement of sustainable development goals, assessed which products and services of the Chamber to a greater extent can contribute to the effective integration of the sustainable development agenda into the Russian business environment, said head of the Chamber.
According to Sergei Katyrin, the task of the Chamber is to expand the tools used to achieve these goals, help choose the most effective ways and formats for their implementation, and share best practices.
A methodological guide has already been developed to help territorial Chambers and entrepreneurs, so that they can figure out which processes and indicators of their internal activities are correlated with the ESG agenda and with what parameters and topics it makes sense to work in the first place. It is important for the Chamber system to focus on those areas where our expertise and resources are strong, where we can provide real assistance to businesses in ESG transformation, the head of the Chamber noted.
In conclusion, Sergey Katyrin made a proposal to the members of the Council and heads of large Russian and international companies to involve regional divisions in projects and initiatives of the Chamber and the Council.
Further, new initiatives of the Council were presented by Irina Arkhipova, Director for Corporate Relations and Sustainable Development of Coca-Cola HBC Russia, Chairperson of the Council's Commission for Business Practices for SDGs and Yulia Alekseeva, Head of the Social Development Department of Russian Railways, Chairperson of the Development of Corporate Volunteering Commission Council.
The meeting was chaired by Tatyana Terentyeva, Chairman of the Council, Deputy General Director for Human Resources of the Rosatom Corporation.
Press Service of the Chamber
