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 ahead of 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.