Assessing the impact of environmental component on the development of Russian banks applying ESG policy

Subject. The article discusses operations of steadily developing Russian banks in the context of environmental component. Objectives. The aim is to identify patterns in functioning of Russian banks, applying ESG policy in their activities, under the influence of environmental factors, to improve the management of their development. Methods. The study employs regression analysis. We selected 26 Russian banks based on ESG ratings, formed an empirical base for 2011–2020 from open sources (financial and economic indicators and macro-level indicators characterizing the environmental impact by the activities of economic entities), built a linear regression model in MS Excel. Results. The constructed regression model helped reveal that the indicator “Recycling and disposal of production and consumption waste in the Russian Federation” has a significant positive impact on the pretax profit of banks applying ESG policy. However, a negative trend in the impact of banks on the environment was identified in terms of connection between the resulting indicator and the indicator “Primary energy intensity level”. This suggests that the internal capacity of banks to implement the environmental component is not sufficiently developed and used. Conclusions. The findings can be used both at the macro and micro level when generating the strategy and tactics for ESG banking development. The offered regression modeling technique can be used to analyze the role of environmental component in the activities of banks in other countries, which implement ESG policy.