(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 21. The single
digital platform for environmental, social, and corporate
governance (ESG) standards in Azerbaijan is planned to be presented
to the public before COP29, Senior Manager of legal and
Sustainability at PwC Azerbaijan Leyla Sadikhova told reporters on
the sidelines of a seminar for journalists on“Understanding and
Analyzing ESG Reports", Trend reports.
She reminded that national ESG standards for SMEs are being
developed within the ESG sub-group of the Business Environment and
Ratings Commission.
“The standards are currently at the approval stage. On the other
hand, our second important project is to present a single digital
platform for environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
standards. This is a kind of hub where all useful data, experts,
and necessary information for businesses will be gathered to help
them navigate sustainability issues. This platform is planned to be
presented to the public before COP29,” Sadikhova noted.
According to her, since COP was the catalyst this year,
legislation in this direction has also started to evolve.
“For instance, both in the financial sector and non-financial
institutions, relevant activities have started. In particular, the
preparation of relevant mechanisms and roadmaps for institutions
has begun on the government side. I believe that this year is
important for Azerbaijan, and we will be able to take a step
towards the implementation phase next year by conducting relevant
preparatory and educational activities. I would especially like to
note that international regulation plays an important role, and the
ESG adaptation process is necessary to implement these mechanisms
in our legislation. Both governmental structures and business
should be ready in this regard,” Sadikhova said.
She noted that next year there will be a logical extension of
these processes when plans for the implementation of these measures
will be realized.
“Businesses need to be ready for this today, as it is not a
distant future but a reality of today. From next year, it will be
an extremely important step for businesses to prepare
sustainability reports and strategies and conduct ESG diagnostics.
Currently, as you know, there are no mandatory reporting
requirements from the government in Azerbaijan. However, we as
experts realize that in the coming years, this may move from a
voluntary practice to a mandatory one. Especially, as you know,
this may first of all affect our financial institutions. Since last
year, the Central Bank has already introduced the concept of ESG
banking into corporate management standards and demanded the
inclusion of ESG factors in reporting. That is, first of all, we
expect reporting from financial institutions and then from
non-financial institutions,” Sadikhova added.
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