RESOURCE EFFICIENCY AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The Moscow Exchange Group shares the environmental concerns of its stakeholders, and it strives to make a difference by minimizing 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 centers account for about 41% 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. For more details see the Moscow Exchange 2023 Climate Report.
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 subsection “Resource efficiency and environmental impact” of the section “Sustainability Data”. Methods for managing environmental issues are described in the section “Sustainability Approaches and Procedures”.
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
2023 highlights
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 Systems - Requirements and Guidelines for Implementation. The main element of the EMS is the Environmental Policy, which defines the goals and objectives of the entity in the field of environmental protection and nature management.
In accordance with the analysis carried out, taking into account the impact aspects of the best practices of Russian and foreign companies in managing their environmental impact and as weel as the aspects of the activities in the field of environmental protection of the Group companies 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, 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, as requested by the Executive a set of internal documents was developed and approved in order to establish the Moscow Exchange EMS, prepared in accordance with the standard recommendations of the ISO 14001: 2015.
Energy consumption
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The Group has continual measures in place to optimize electricity and heat consumption, including the following:
- 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
Commission contracts were also signed by DataSpace and M1 for the supply of green energy to the data processing centers, where Moscow Exchange’s hardware and software systems are located. As a result, the actual energy supply in 2023 amounts to more than 13 million kWh, which represents more than 92 % 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 2023, the electricity consumption of the companies of the Moscow Exchange Group decreased by 8% compared to 2022 and the heat consumption decreased by 12.6%.
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 deccreased slightly compared to 2022, while the water consumption intensity per revenue decreased by 22% to 0.2 cubic meters / million roubles. The water consumption intensity per employee amounted to 9.98 cubic metres, which is 13% lower than in 2022.
Emissions of air pollutants
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In 2023, there were no significant changes in emissions of harmful (pollutant) substances into the air.
No new sources of emissions of harmful (pollutant) substances into the atmospheric air have been identified.
The Industrial Environmental Control Program is implemented on an annual basis, and a report on its implementation is submitted to the supervisory authorities.
Waste management
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In 2023, Moscow Exchange signed contracts with the Federal Environmental Operator (FEO) for disposal of hazard class I and II wastes (mercury lamps, UPS, batteries, accumulators, batteries, etc.).
All organisations that generate hazard class I-II wastes but do not have their own facilities to handle them should have concluded a contract with the FEO. These requirements are set by paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 14.4 of Federal Law No. 89-FZ “On production and consumption waste dated 24 June 1998 and Federal Law No.268-FZ “On amending the Federal Law ‘On waste of production and consumption’ and certain legal acts of Russian Federation” dated 14 July 2022.
FEO provides a full spectrum of services for hazard class I-II waste management, including transportation.
The work with the FEO is fully electronic. To do this, Moscow Exchange and NSD created their User Accounts at FGIS OPVK.
Under contracts concluded with FEO, a total of 7,355 tonnes of hazard class I-II waste was transferred for disposal and neutralisation in 2023.
In April 2023, in an effort to ensure separate accumulation of low-hazard waste and its further recycling, recycling kiosks for plastic containers were placed in the office buildings on B. Kislovsky pereulok and Spartakovskaya street. The Group’s employees now may separate their plastic bottles from the general waste and hand them in through recycling kiosks. Over 2,500 aluminium cans and over 11,000 plastic bottles have been collected in a year since the launch of the project.
In addition to the separate collection of plastic containers, bins for collection of batteries, paper, plastic and other waste were placed in B. Kislovsky and Spartakovskaya offices.
In 2023, we also worked on completing and filing mandatory environmental reports. To do this, Moscow Exchange and NSD created Natural Resource User Accounts. All reports were submitted within the statutory deadlines.
Plans for 2024
From 2024, the “Flexible Office” project will go live, involving major refurbishment of Bolshoy Kislovsky office space. In this regard, it is expected that the generation of production and consumption waste will increase in overall. Therefore, the main task in 2024-2025 will be to arrange temporary collection and further disposal of all waste generated while complying with environmental legislation.
Further, we will continue to work on completing and submitting mandatory environmental reporting, as well as on separate collection of plastic containers through recycling kiosks and other types of waste through separate containers.
- implementation of EMS at PJSC Moscow Exchange in accordance with ISO 14001:2015;
- increasing the share of green energy consumption in the Group’s energy consumption structure;
- carrying out annual events to improve energy efficiency;
- development of a climate risk management system and interaction with financial market participants on the climate agenda;
- implementation of annual activities for waste management and rational water consumption;
- carrying out environmental campaigns for separate waste collection.