The 2nd meeting of the National ESG Club was held

On September 7, 2022, the second meeting of the Club was held under the chairmanship of Aidar Kazybayev, Chairman of the National ESG Club.

At the meeting, which was attended by representatives of all companies – members of the Club, the perspective issues of the Club’s activities were considered, including the plans for the work of expert groups in various areas for the coming period, proposals for regulating the activities of the ESG Club, etc.

The Chairman of the ESG Club, Aidar Kazybaev, as the head of the Expert Groups, announced the work plans of the Expert Group on the implementation of ESG assessment and ESG education. He noted the importance of creating a national ESG rating and standard that will cover not only Kazakhstani companies, but also companies from Central Asian countries.

By the way, this rating is already applied in the policy of JSC NC KazMunayGas. Director of the Strategy and Investment Portfolio Management Department of JSC NC KazMunayGas Aisha Turebayeva noted that it is very difficult to obtain and maintain a rating. She supported the relevance of introducing a national ESG assessment system and developing educational services on ESG topics. During the meeting, the importance of establishing the ESG Academy was noted. As the meeting participants noted, at the moment there are few companies that provide training on ESG practices.

Director of GPI Lab LLP Yulia Yakupbayeva initiated a working group on urban issues, who will participate in the development of green standards and the ESG rating of regions. She also supported initiatives to implement ESG assessment. Member of the Association of Independent Directors «Qazaq Independent Directors» Larisa Melnik spoke about the Association’s developments in the field of ESG education and expressed interest in participating in the work of the Expert Group on ESG Education in terms of corporate governance.

Svetlana Maslova, Director of Public-Private Partnership Projects at the EDB Project Support Department, told the Club members about a joint work carried out with the AIFC Green Finance Centre to develop ESG-Market Place, which is a unique project of its kind that has no analogues in the Eurasian space.

One of the highlights of the meeting was the announcement of seven new members joining the ESG club.

The 23 current members of the Club were joined by such companies as Capital Kazyna Management JSC, RSE Kazakhstan Institute of Standardization and Metrology, National Center for Expertise and Certification JSC, ETS KZ Verifiers Union of Verifiers of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Association of Independent Directors Qazaq Independent Directors, Public Ecological Fund Nature First and CT Solutions LLP. Thus, today the ESG Club unites 30 leading companies actively promoting the principles of sustainable development and ESG in Kazakhstan.

At the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the ESG Club, Aidar Kazybayev, announced that the next meeting of the Club is scheduled within the framework of World Investors Week (WIW), which will be held from October 3-7, 2022 at the AIFC territory.

In addition, the first ESG Investment Forum – 2022 will be held as part of WIW, which will bring together several thematic events. The forum will be opened by the panel session «ESG Club as a platform for business sustainability» with the participation of the top managers of the member companies of the Club. Also, within the framework of the ESG Forum, a separate session will be held dedicated to the large topic «ESG-regions» with a presentation of the ESG potential of the Almaty region.

Part of the session «Climate risks in the financial sector» will be the certification program «GARP Sustainability and Climate Risk». A separate session will be devoted to the use of ESG instruments in the Central Asian region – «The stock market of sustainable financial instruments as a driver of the development of the green economy of the region», with the participation of the President of the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange Medetbek Nazaraliyev.

Reference: 

The National ESG Club was created as part of Astana Finance Days 2022 on July 28, 2022 and united 19 companies that are leaders in ESG transformation in their industries. Today the Club includes 30 companies.

The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is an independent jurisdiction that started operations in 2018. In accordance with the Development Strategy until 2025, the key focus of the AIFC is to consolidate as a universal platform connecting the countries of the EAEU, Central Asia and the Caucasus. www.aifc.kz

The AIFC Green Finance Centre is a subsidiary organisation of the AIFC Authority and the Eurasian Development Bank, aimed at introduction and development of sustainable finance instruments and attracting of investments in environmental and social projects in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

The AIFC Green Finance Centre supported the very first issuance of green bonds and first verified green loan in Kazakhstan. Also, the Centre introduced definitions of green finance and green taxonomy (a classifier of economic activities and projects that meet technical selection criteria) in the national environmental legislation. The new legislation provides incentives for entrepreneurs who use green finance instruments www.gfc.aifc.kz