Over the past few years, the efforts of the CREON group have been aimed at promoting Russian initiatives on the international level. The country is in dire need of foreign investments for new petrochemical projects. The world financial community pays special attention to the principles of the “green” economy, which, in turn, motivated us together with our partner WWF Russia to establish Environmental Responsibility Rating of Oil & Gas Companies, that we carry out jointly since 2014. In mid-2016 we established direct investment fund CREON Energy, with an estimated investment amount over 100 million euro, focused on investments in the chemical sector projects of the Russian Federation, in the environmental projects of the green economy and alternative energy projects.
The Rational Approach project is a global campaign to support the “green” economy. This is the annual rating with results available to general public. It showcases details, nuances, problems and their solutions. This is our joint, honest work today for the benefit of future generations. For more than 15 years, CREON Group of Companies has been active in the same information field as oilers; it basically breathes the same air with petrochemical industry. Obviously, the economic activities of oil and gas holdings, in absence of proper attention to the issue, carry a serious threat to the environment. At the same time, the industry is a key segment of the national economy. Rational approach dictates the necessity achieving balance. As experts, we trace the positive trends of recent years and progression of the domestic companies towards a “green” economy. Each company follows their own way at its own pace, but the overall progress is obvious … this cannot be ignored, this should not be ignored. The Rational Approach project, which we initiated and have been implementing for several years, is our contribution to popularizing and promoting the idea of a green economy in Russia and abroad. The flagship of the project is the Environmental Responsibility Rating of Oil & Gas Companies in Russia that we carry on jointly with our partner, the World Wildlife Fund. Thus, for the first time in Russia, a comprehensive system is established to assess the environmental performance of oil and gas companies.
In 2017, Creon Capital and WWF Russia in partnership with UNEP and on the basis of similar experience in Russia, implemented the rating calculation project in Kazakhstan, and the results of this pilot project have proved to be successful. The project in Kazakhstan was supported by UNEP-CA ant the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Further annual calculation of the Rating has been approved.
Capitalizing on the experience gained in Russia and Kazakhstan, the new Global Rating was announced in 2018. The Global Rating’s objective is to evaluate the present transparency level of environmental indicators in the world’s largest oil and gas companies based on the information available in the public domain. The corresponding declaration between WWF-Russia and the independent fund management company CREON Capital was signed at the International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg in May. The new initiative will raise the environmental awareness of various parties interacting with the oil and gas industry including consumers, financial and insurance companies, and will help influence corporate policies. Thus the Global Rating will highlight the activities of oil and gas companies in hydrocarbon-producing countries, and will also support them in diversification of energy sources in the developing markets on the way to switching to non-fossil feedstock.
