As part of the ESG assessment process, ACRA analyzes the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of a company’s/region’s activities in the field of environmental and social responsibility, corporate/public governance, and also evaluates the company’s/region’s efforts to minimize ESG risks.
WHY CHOOSE ACRA?
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
What is an ESG assessment?
An ESG assessment is an opinion on the sustainability activities of a company/region.
Why are ESG assessments needed?
An ESG assessment allows investors and counterparties to determine the level of responsibility of companies/regions, as well as the environmental, social and managerial risks that arise when working with them.
For financial and non-financial companies:
- Positions the company among investors and counterparties as an environmentally and socially responsible partner.
- Increases the efficiency of communication with responsible investors and provides access to new investor groups.
- The opportunity to receive financing linked to the ESG assessment.
- Holding internal audits of ESG policies and procedures at the company as part of the assessment, as well as the opportunity to receive a comparison with competitors.
- ACRA’s ESG assessments can be used in dialog with other ESG providers as a counterargument.
For regions:
- Identifies strengths and weaknesses of a region’s ESG profile.
- Allows a region to be compared to other Russian regions.
- Positions a region’s government as a responsible counterparty for foreign investors, taking into account the global importance of the environmental agenda.
- Independent assessment of the quality of public governance in a region, which may be used in dialog with the federal government.
- Independent assessment of environmental and social risks in the region and the effectiveness of the region’s government in addressing these risks.
Who can receive an ESG assessment from ACRA?
- Financial and non-financial companies.
- Sovereign and sub-sovereign entities.
- Individual portfolios of management companies (mutual investment funds, closed-ended mutual investment funds, etc.).
Can ACRA’s ESG methodology only be used to assess Russian companies?
No, the extraterritorial nature of ACRA’s ESG Assessment Methodology means that we can carry out assessments in different jurisdictions. In addition, ACRA is included in the list of independent verifiers of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), which means that assessments are internationally recognized.
Can ESG assessments be assigned to financial sector companies?
Yes. The “Ecology” and “Social Responsibility” sections of the assessment are used for corporate borrowers/assets under management.
Is it necessary to possess public non-financial reporting to receive a corporate ESG assessment?
No. A company can start preparing ESG reporting at the same time as the ESG assessment. This may even make the process of preparing non-financial reporting more effective.
Services for the preparation of non-financial reporting in the context of ESG in accordance with international standards, taking into account Russian specifics, are provided by a subsidiary of ACRA — ACRA RM
How can I receive an ESG assessment?
- Contact us to request cooperation.
- Enter into an ESG assessment contract and sign a non-disclosure agreement.
- Fill in ACRA’s questionnaire.
- Attend a series of interviews with ACRA’s analysts.
- As part of filling out the questionnaire and conducting interviews, the company/region conducts self-identification/internal audit for the presence of ESG policies and procedures, as well as ESG KPIs.
How does ACRA’s approach differ from other providers of ESG assessments?
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ACRA’s ESG assessments are solicited (that is, they are carried out subject to an agreement with the client) and involve obtaining public and non-public information from the client, a completed questionnaire, as well as holding interviews and meetings as part of the assessment procedure. This allows us to conduct a better analysis of ESG practices and procedures and take into account all the nuances of the client’s activities.
- The client’s actual performance is assessed based on an intra-industry ranking using ACRA’s internal database (over 8,000 companies from more than 17 industries).
- The dynamics of indicators are taken into account and modifiers and analytical adjustments are applied.
- Cross-country comparison, which allows the client to determine their position in terms of ESG risks among a global list of companies in the industry.
- Assessment takes into account the industry specifics of the company.
A GLOBAL DATABASE OF ESG INDICATORS IS AT THE CORE OF ACRA’S ESG ASSESSMENT
Data for 2000–2019
is based on a comparative analysis of ESG indicators of companies in the industry
DISTRIBUTION OF COMPANIES IN THE CORE OF ACRA’s MODEL
ACRA’s ESG assessment process
The process for obtaining an ESG assessment is as follows:
ACRA carries out the assessment in no more than 30 (thirty) business days following the client’s provision of the necessary documents and information.