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Are there any alternatives to aviation kerosene, trading in carbon units, Sberbank’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality and other news on the ESG agenda. Read more in the material Trends and NCR
About the Author: Andrey Piskunov, Managing Director of the National Credit Ratings Agency (NKR, part of the holding).
Why green fuel won’t be a quick replacement for kerosene
Gazprom Neft has begun refueling flights of Ural Airlines at foreign airports with environmentally friendly fuel. The use of biofuels for air travel is still more of an image step than a widespread trend to reduce the carbon footprint of air travel.
Biofuels are on average four times more expensive than conventional aviation kerosene. At the same time, the technology allows the mixing of two types of fuel without compromising safety and reducing flight performance. The spread of biofuels in aviation is also hindered by the diversity of national standards for aviation kerosene, which makes it difficult to calculate and compare CO₂ emissions depending on the country of refueling. Apparently, in the near future, airlines will prefer to buy emissions allowances rather than switch to biofuels.
What drives demand for carbon credits
Rosneft and the St. Petersburg International Commodity Exchange signed an agreement on cooperation in the development of exchange trading in carbon units. The success of trading in carbon credits resulting from projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions depends largely on the reputation of the company generating such credits. In the case of Rosneft, which has international recognition in the field of ESG, such units may well be in demand. It remains to decide on the buyers of quotas who are ready to pay for their own carbon footprint.
Garbage business: who will be exempted from paying personal income tax
In our country, they want to completely exempt from personal income tax the income of individuals from the sale of recyclable materials: plastic, glass, rubber, waste paper. The prospects for such an initiative, both financial and environmental, are highly questionable. The systematic collection and sale of recyclables, with the exception of scrap, is common among citizens who have an extremely vague idea of the tax deduction mechanism, and the private industry for the collection and disposal of waste is in the shadows.
How Sberbank will try to achieve carbon neutrality
The Supervisory Board of Sberbank approved the company’s Climate Strategy until 2023. The adoption of the climate strategy by Sber fully meets the requirements of the time. Achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 looks like a fairly ambitious task, given the scale of the bank’s branch network, and neutrality must be achieved in two “scopes” at once – direct and indirect emissions. Of course, the implementation of such a strategy will require Sberbank to carry out a full environmental audit of its activities, including suppliers and contractors, as well as large-scale investments in infrastructure. It is also possible that carbon neutrality will be achieved through the purchase of allowances, in particular through the purchase of green electricity. Recall that the bank has already taken similar steps in relation to its individual divisions.
Silence game: why business associations do not provide information to Rospotrebnadzor
The business did not provide the authorities with data on the disposal of goods and packaging. Domestic businesses have repeatedly been seen to be lukewarm about waste disposal obligations under the EPR mechanism, as this entails additional costs. But it is unfair to completely shift the responsibility for yet another stalling of the garbage reform to business associations. State regulation in our country knows successful precedents for the introduction of accounting systems in a number of industries. Taking into account the social significance of the waste reform, it would be appropriate to conduct an independent audit and licensing of enterprises engaged in waste processing, rather than shifting responsibility to business.