RESOURCE EFFICIENCY AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The Moscow Exchange Group shares the environmental concerns of its stakeholders, and it strives to make a difference by minimising any negative impact on the environment.
The primary environmental impact of the Group’s companies stems from electricity consumption associated with the operation of server and computer equipment processing a significant amount of data (the data centres account for about 36.6% of Moscow Exchange’s total electricity consumption). Generation of the electricity consumed by the Group’s companies generates GHG emissions that can affect the climate. Therefore, the management of Moscow Exchange Group incorporates climate risks into its risk management system and keeps track of GHG emissions. See the Climate Agenda subsection for details.
Other environmental impacts, including water consumption and waste generation, are mainly associated with the operation of Moscow Exchange’s offices. This subsection provides information on the types and results of environmental impacts of MOEX’s activities: energy consumption, water consumption and wastewater discharge, air pollutant emissions and waste management. Quantitative indicators can be found in the section in the Resource Efficiency and Environmental Impact subsection of the Sustainability Data section. Methods for managing environmental issues are described in the Sustainability Approaches and Procedures section.
Moscow Exchange Group’s objectives and the UN Sustainable Development Goals:
- SDG 12.2, 12.4, 12.5, 12.6, 12.8 Responsible consumption and production
- SDG 13.1, 13.3 Climate action
2022 highlights
The 2022 Sustainability Roadmap of the Moscow Exchange Group provided for an action to update environmental documentation within the framework of the applicable requirements of environmental legislation. In order to implement this measure, the initial stage included an analysis of the requirements of the current legislation in the field of environmental protection and environmental management, as well as best practices for the development of strategic documents of companies in the field of the environment, taking into account the approaches to the assessment of these practices by ESG-agencies.
In addition, in 2022, the Moscow Exchange office on Bolshoi Kislovsky Lane was assigned a category III negative environmental impact, which requires more attention to managing environmental impacts.
The best practice in environmental impact management is to implement an environmental management system (EMS) in accordance with the international standard ISO 14001:2015, Environmental Management
In accordance with the analysis carried out, a draft Environmental Policy of Moscow Exchange was developed, taking into account the environmental impact aspects.
The policy covers all environmental elements of the previously adopted MOEX Sustainability Roadmap and the UN SDGs, MOEX ESG Vision and defines the basic principles, objectives and priorities of MOEX’s environmental protection and management activities, including the nature, scale and environmental impact of these activities.
The objectives of the Moscow Exchange Environmental Policy in the field of environmental protection and natural resource management are:
- to facilitate the transition to a circular and low-carbon economy;
- to minimise own direct and indirect negative impact on the environment and climate.
In December 2022, the Environmental Policy was approved by the Executive Board and approved on 28 April 2023 by the Supervisory Board.
In addition, the Executive Board was instructed to ensure the development and approval of internal documents establishing the EMS of Moscow Exchange prepared in accordance with the ISO 14001:2015 standard in 2023.
Energy consumption
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- switching server processors to energy-saving mode when not under load;
- turning off office lighting and climate control equipment outside office hours;
- replacing light fixtures with energy-saving LED lamps when building or renovating premises.
In 2021, Moscow Exchange Group transferred all its office buildings on Bolshoy Kislovsky Lane and Spartakovskaya Street in Moscow to green electricity produced at Ulyanovsk Wind Farm-2. Over the year, Moscow Exchange developed a contractual arrangement that allows end consumers of electricity to purchase power from renewable sources through a commission agreement with a guaranteeing supplier (Mosenergosbyt JSC in the case of Moscow Exchange) on the wholesale electricity and capacity market. This model is unique in Russia.
In early 2022, the Group signed another commission contract for the supply of green energy to the DataSpace data processing centre, where Moscow Exchange’s hardware and software systems are located. As a result, the actual energy supply in 2022 amounts to more than 11 million kWh, which represents more than 72% of the MOEX’s electricity consumption. The use of clean and renewable energy will enable the Exchange to minimise its carbon footprint, in line with best practice in sustainable development.
At the end of 2022, the electricity consumption of the companies of the Moscow Exchange Group decreased by 1% compared to 2021 and the heat consumption decreased by 9%.
MOEX’s immediate plans include continuing to implement measures to reduce gross electricity consumption by switching to more energy-efficient network equipment.
Use of green energy will help prevent GHG emissions and reduce Scope 2 indicators.
Water consumption
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Total water consumption as well as wastewater discharge increased slightly compared to 2021, while the water withdrawal intensity per revenue decreased by 24% to 0.3 cubic meters / RUB million. The water withdrawal intensity per employee is 11.56 cubic metres per person, which is 5% lower than in 2021.
Air emissions
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In 2021, an inventory of emissions of harmful (polluting) substances into the atmospheric air and their sources was carried out for the building complex of Moscow Exchange on Bolshoy Kislovsky Lane.
As a result of the inventory, it was found that 14 types of pollutants are emitted by Moscow Exchange as a result of its operations. Information on the amount of emissions for each type of pollutant is given in the Sustainability Data section (Resource Efficiency and Environmental Impact subsection).
Total air pollutant emissions in 2022 were 0.145 tonnes, including 0.14 tonnes of gaseous and liquid and 0.005 tonnes of solids.
Waste management
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The main types of waste in the Group’s companies are municipal solid waste, waste electronic equipment, etc. For more information, see the Sustainability Approaches and Procedures section.
In 2022, the volume of waste generation decreased by 20.8%, mainly due to a reduction in the generation of low-hazardous waste (hazard class IV). In accordance with legal requirements and the Draft Waste Generation and Disposal Limits, all generated waste was transferred to specialised organisations. At the same time, compared to the previous year, in 2022 the amount of waste transferred for treatment increased by 30 times, and the amount of waste transferred for neutralisation and recycling increased by 69.85%.
Group companies have organised separate collection of household waste, and wastepaper is collected and sent for recycling.
Plans for 2023
- implementation of an EMS at the Exchange in accordance with the international standard ISO 14001:2015;
- increase in the share of green energy consumption in the Group’s energy mix;
- implementation of annual energy efficiency measures;
- developement of the Group’s climate risk management system and engagement of with financial market participants on the climate agenda;
- implementation of annual waste management and water management activities;
- environmental campaigns for the collection of certain types of waste.