Every year on June 5, the world community celebrates World Environment Day, established in 1972 by the UN General Assembly. In Russia, this date is also celebrated as the Day of the Ecologist, which was approved in 2007 by presidential decree. The main goal is to attract additional attention to environmental protection as one of the most important factors affecting the welfare of society and economic development.

Ensuring the sustainability of business performance, Rosneft is constantly working to minimise its impact on the environment.

As a member of the UN Global Compact and guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as well as national environmental goals of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030, Rosneft developed the Environmental Development Concept - 2030, which along with the Carbon Management Plan until 2035 became a core ingredient of the long-term environmental agenda of the Company, which determined the basic principles of its environmental activities.

The Environmental Development Concept 2030 combines three priority areas:

• carbon management,
• biological diversity preservation,
• environmental protection activities (water and air protection, land remediation, industrial waste management, spill prevention).

In 2020, Rosneft was the first Russian oil and gas company to set climate targets through 2035 as part of its Carbon Management Plan. The document stipulates the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 20 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, a 30% reduction in the emission intensity of oil and gas production, achieving a methane emission intensity below 0.25% and zero routine flaring of associated gas by 2035.

The Company consistently implements initiatives and investment projects aimed at preventing its impact on the environment. Rosneft’s green investments for the period 2018-2022 are planned at 300 billion roubles and are aimed at improving the utilisation of associated petroleum gas (APG), enhancing pipeline reliability, increasing wastewater and waste management and land remediation.

The measures implemented in 2020, including the APG utilisation programme, resulted in a 14% reduction in the volume of emissions into the atmosphere. A number of Group enterprises also ensured 100% remediation of “historical heritage” land and reduced previously accumulated drilling waste by more than 1.3 million tonnes.

It is an important area of the Company’s activities to conserve biodiversity as a basis for the sustainability of the biosphere and individual ecosystems. Taking care of the conservation of wildlife and maintaining the sustainable state of ecosystems, Rosneft implements a number of programmes for the study and conservation of populations of wild animals in the regions of its presence. According to the Concept, all future projects of the Company should be based on the principle of “net positive impact” on biodiversity, in line with the best practices of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Rosneft implements programmes and individual projects to study and protect the polar bear, Atlantic walrus, Black Sea dolphin, wild reindeer, ivory gull and other animals. The emphasis is on species that serve as so-called biological indicators - the state of their populations and migration patterns can effectively gauge the sustainability and state of ecosystems.

Over the period from 2018 through 2020, the Group enterprises released more than 110 million fish fry of various species and planted more than 3.5 million trees.

Much attention is devoted to raising environmental awareness among employees of the Company and its contractors. Environmental initiatives develop an understanding of responsible consumption and increase environmental awareness. Employees and their family members are invited to participate in environmental activities at events enterprises arrange and hold, such as clean-up days, land remediation actions, contests on industrial landscaping, etc. Furthermore, the Group enterprises arrange sorting of recyclable waste.

The Company’s efforts with regard to sustainability have been highly praised by ESG agencies, which is reflected in Rosneft’s leading positions in global ESG ratings. Rosneft is ranked the leading oil and gas company in Russia in a variety of reputable ratings, such as Refinitiv, Bloomberg, CHRB. The Company also ranks among the top companies in the Climate and Water categories of the international CDP ratings and is highly rated in the FTSE Russell and ICB supersector ratings.

Rosneft
Information Division
June 7, 2021

Keywords: Environmental News 2021