Assessment Environmental Responsibility of Business as an Ethical Challenge: Rating of Oil and Gas Companies Operating in the Arctic (2014–2022)

The article aims to analyze the concept of "environmental responsibility of business" (ERB), focusing on its ethical dimension, and examines the environmental rating of Arctic oil and gas companies in 2014–2022 as a method for assessing ERB. The following methods were used in the research: 1. literature review and synthesis of existing ERB researches; 2. environmental rating as a comparative analysis method for assessing the ERB of Russian oil and gas companies operating in the Arctic. As a result, 11 theoretical approaches to the concept of "environmental responsibility of business" have analyzed and systematized by direction. An author's definition of ERB is proposed as a conscious, continuously improving business practice, operating within the framework of corporate social responsibility (CSR), complying with mandatory and voluntary environmental regulatory and legal requirements, ensuring the sustainable development of human society and nature. Authors have maintained the ethical task is to combine clearly structured conscious activity with a moral imperative that all humanity must follow unconditionally, without reasoning or questioning. A research of the environmental rating of oil and gas companies operating in the Arctic in 2014–2022 identified companies with high, medium, and low levels of ERB overall and by sections reflecting different perspectives on the ERB concept. The rating system uniquely contributes to understanding ERB in challenging environments like the Arctic.