On 8 October, the B20 held its regional consultation forum.

The Business 20 (B20) is one of the G20 engagement groups bringing together trade associations and companies that represent the voice of the global business community. Every year, it issues practical policy recommendations from the business viewpoint to the G20. This year’s theme was Ensuring Sustainability: Role of International Multilateral Business Cooperation Institutions. The key areas of focus were energy, sustainability and climate change, financing, infrastructure, and others. The dialogue featured the representatives of Saudi Arabia, the current G20 chair, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and large Russian businesses.

“Businesses of every size and sector play an important role in procuring resources for the sustainable economy. They are also seen as key contributors to this goal,” says Dmitry Pristanskov, Nornickel State Secretary and Vice President.

A lot of B20’s key recommendations centred around the environment. In particular, the group proposed measures to help fast track carbon neutrality and minimise climatic risks, develop and promote low-carbon technologies, transition to the circular economy, make infrastructure more resilient to climate change, and many more. Dmitry Pristanskov shared Nornickel’s experience:

“In 2013, we launched a production reconfiguration programme unprecedented in scale and investments. In 2016, we shut down our Nickel Plant, which was beyond modernisation, thus cutting carbon dioxide emissions in Norilsk by almost a third. We also mothballed copper capacities at Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant to eliminate low-grade and converter gas emissions. Today we are implementing our Sulphur Programme, a major initiative to improve local environment. The programme is set to deliver a 90% reduction of sulphur dioxide emissions in the Norilsk Industrial District by 2025.”

He also spoke of the need to adequately assess infrastructure risks associated with the climate change.

“Unfortunately, our own experience proved that we could still underestimate some factors while implementing large-scale environmental initiatives. I am talking of the accident and the resulting fuel spill in Norilsk. Obviously, no business can ensure a 100% protection from man-made disasters. In our case, we did not fully factor in the permafrost thawing and infrastructure vulnerability. To prevent future emergencies, Nornickel has decided on further investment of some RUB 100 bn in industrial safety.”

Nornickel takes part in B20 Consultation Forum