Bank of Russia Holds BRICS ‘Financing Sustainable Development’ Public Seminar in Brazil

The BRICS ‘Financing Sustainable Development’ Public Seminar, organized by the Bank of Russia, was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 27 February. First Deputy Head of the Bank of Russia Vladimir Chistyukhin and First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank Alexander Vedyakhin opened the seminar plenary session.

An overview of the sustainable development agenda in Russia was presented during the event along with possible areas for cooperation within BRICS on financing sustainable development.

Vladimir Chistyukhin in his report focused on the climate agenda. Major projects already implemented by the regulator in this area include: the taxonomy of sustainable development projects, developing an ESG rating system, and regulating verification systems. Opportunities for BRICS countries to work together were also presented and included the development of a common framework for financing sustainable development, non-discriminatory access to financial services, and the mutual recognition of emissions accounting systems.

The Bank of Russia has identified two main sustainable development financing discussion blocks:

1. The management of climate risks. The Bank of Russia presented its own systems for evaluating these risks and important measures for their mitigation. The release of ESG ratings recommendations were also discussed.
2. Climate stress tests. A review was conducted of international experience with climate stress tests with a presentation of examples of implementation. The Bank of Russia presented its own stress tests and spoke about the main objectives, assumptions, and questions for research on this topic. The results of climate stress tests modelled up to 2040 were also presented along with plans for conducting bottom-up testing to be carried out together with major financial institutions.

Separate presentations on sustainable development in corporate governance and information disclosure were presented. Vladimir Chistyukhin presented his recommendations on the topic and drew attention to the opportunity for cooperation within BRICS on projects for the development of standards for corporate governance and the disclosure of information related to sustainable development.

The presentation on possible areas of cooperation within BRICS on sustainable financial instruments and infrastructure highlighted the development of standards for green finance and adaptation to climate change, the harmonization of approaches to ESG ratings, and the creation of mechanisms for continuous dialogue within the organization.

A Sberbank initiative to establish the BRICS Climate Council – a supranational mechanism for cooperation between interested climate, green economy, and sustainable development organizations within BRICS – was also considered during the seminar.

The Roscongress Foundation manages the events of Russia’s BRICS Chairship.