Sovcombank has offset the carbon footprint of its operations for 2025
Sovcombank Group has acquired carbon footprint management instruments — carbon units and green electricity certificates. This allowed the bank to fully offset greenhouse gas emissions from its operations — both direct (from its own energy sources) and indirect (from consumed electricity).
How direct emissions were offsetTo achieve this, the bank was credited with carbon units obtained from the implementation of Russian climate projects. These projects are aimed at improving the energy efficiency of large enterprises in the country and have been registered in the Carbon Units Registry, which confirms their effectiveness. The retirement was carried out by Carbon Zero, a company with extensive experience in creating low-carbon solutions.
How "green" electricity was ensuredSovcombank has fully transitioned its electricity consumption to renewable sources using Carbon Zero green electricity certificates. The certificates were obtained from the Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Power Plant (part of En+ Group). 100% of the bank's electricity consumption is provided from zero-greenhouse gas emission sources. The bank purchased and retired certificates confirming that the electricity was produced from renewable sources in accordance with Russian legislation. The operator of the generation attributes registry is the Energy Certification Center (ECC LLC), authorized by the Government of the Russian Federation. It registered the purchase and confirmed that the electricity consumed by the bank was indeed obtained from "green" sources.
Systemic work since 2020Since 2020, Sovcombank has been annually assessing its carbon footprint — both direct and indirect emissions (including those related to the activities of suppliers and borrowers). The results are disclosed in the annual report. In 2021, the bank set a goal to become carbon-neutral in its operations (direct and indirect energy emissions) by 2030, and across all three emission categories by 2050. Since 2022, Sovcombank has been annually offsetting the carbon footprint from its branch operations. The bank became the first systemically important credit institution in Russia to achieve carbon neutrality for direct and indirect energy emissions.
"Recently, thanks to stimulating regulation, the investment community has been paying increased attention to the current sustainable development market environment. This is a good reason to remember the comprehensive approach to this sector's work. Sovcombank is not only a market leader in organizing the placement of sustainable development bonds, a leader in providing consulting services for sustainable finance, and a leader in the Bank's key areas of social investment, but it also confirms its status as a carbon-neutral bank for the fourth consecutive year. Offsetting all emissions from our operations — including fuel combustion and electricity consumption for 2025 — is part of our systemic work to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. We will continue to implement best sustainable development practices and support the sustainability of the Russian economy."
"Congratulations to Sovcombank on another achievement in implementing its sustainable development strategy. It is important that this is a systemic effort by the bank over several years in the decarbonization instruments market — from green electricity certificates to carbon units. Russian markets are already showing a certain maturity: the necessary regulatory framework has been formed, and state registries ensure the transparency of operations. Under these conditions, companies' access to proven and comprehensive solutions becomes key. At Carbon Zero, we focus on providing such access by combining instruments, infrastructure, and expertise for the implementation of decarbonization projects."
"The Carbon Units Registry highly values the Bank's systemic approach to carbon footprint management. We consider the implementation of such practices as a significant contribution to the formation of a responsible and transparent climate policy."
"Many different instruments may be required to achieve carbon neutrality, and En+, as the world's largest private producer of renewable energy, is actively developing them for the Russian market. It is important that more and more companies in various sectors, including banking, are choosing green certificates to achieve their climate goals. Such deals support the emerging carbon market in Russia and show that domestic mechanisms work and open the opportunity for companies of any scale to take responsibility for their carbon footprint."
"The Energy Certification Center, as the operator of the electricity origin certification system, welcomes this step by Sovcombank towards forming our common sustainable future. We hope that in the future, Sovcombank will continue to both provide financial support to renewable and low-carbon energy projects and ensure its own energy consumption with clean generation."
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The Government Adjusted the Procedure for Maintaining the Carbon Unit Registry
Starting March 1, 2027, a unified buffer account will appear in the Russian carbon unit (CU) registry. Units from climate projects with risks of re-release of greenhouse gases will be credited to it. This will provide future foreign CU buyers with a guarantee that units purchased under such projects will not be canceled in case of, for example, CO2 emission due to fire. The implementation of the mechanism increases the chances of international recognition of Russian carbon units for their use in CORSIA (a global project to reduce emissions in aviation) and the mechanisms of the Paris Agreement.
The Government has adopted a decree on the rules for conducting operations with carbon units using a buffer account in the corresponding registry. Such units will be conserved on it if there are risks of "unplanned" re-release of greenhouse gases for a launched climate project (activities to reduce emissions or increase their absorption by natural systems). We note that this refers to projects within the framework of international cooperation.
Carbon units are verified results of the implementation of climate projects, taking into account the mass of greenhouse gases "saved" during production. Companies that have issued CUs can both offset their emissions with them (i.e., count them towards their allocated quotas) and sell them to less green enterprises to compensate for their carbon footprint. According to the Ministry of Economic Development, as of August 12, 2026, 132 climate projects are registered in the special registry, with 37 million carbon units in circulation, 1.2 million of which were issued in 2026.
For projects with a risk of greenhouse gas release (forest-climate, wetland restoration, agroforestry, and others), there is always a risk that the carbon absorbed by such systems will return to the atmosphere — for example, due to a fire. The buffer account specified in the adopted decree should act as insurance: if the verifier confirms the fact of gas release, the corresponding number of units is debited from the reserve and canceled. The date for the new rules to come into force is March 1, 2027.
The Ministry has already applied for recognition of the Russian program in CORSIA. It is reported that in the future it is planned to supplement it with natural climate projects, for which it is necessary to take such risks into account. The emergence of the buffering mechanism, the ministry notes, increases the chances of ICAO approval of the Russian application.
The carbon market in Russia has been functioning for four years, it is improving, but in general, it is still an internal development story, notes Oksana Gogunskaya, General Director of JSC Kontur (operator of the CU registry). According to her, the appearance of the buffer account indicates Russia's readiness to make a name for itself on the international market. The mechanism is a guarantee to foreign buyers that the units purchased for such projects will not be canceled in the event of, for example, a re-emission of CO2 as a result of a fire on the climate project site. Such a risk management mechanism is widespread in world practice.
"Buffering itself does not ensure international recognition of Russian units, but it removes one of the significant barriers to their potential use in CORSIA and the mechanisms of the Paris Agreement"
The single in Russia: a company founded by the Petroleum Higher School receives UN accreditation
LLC MIP "NES Profexpert" (Limited Liability Company Small Innovative Enterprise "NES Profexpert"), whose founder is the Almetyevsk State Technical University "Higher School of Petroleum," has become the first—and to date the only—Russian organization to be accredited as a Designated Operational Entity (DOE) under the Article 6.4 mechanism of the Paris Agreement.
This status entitles the company to perform independent validation and verification/certification of climate projects in accordance with UNFCCC requirements. The accreditation has been obtained for 15 out of 17 possible sectoral scopes, including energy, industry, construction, transport, agriculture and forestry, as well as waste management.
Currently, only 18 organizations worldwide hold DOE status, and "NES Profexpert" is the only company from Russia included in this list. This opens up new opportunities for operating in the international carbon credit market and confirms that the company's expertise meets the highest global standards.
The "Titan Games" were held as a carbon-neutral event
Following the results of the joint Spartakiad "Titan Games", held in Kemerovo in early July 2026, a comprehensive calculation of the carbon footprint of the event was performed and its full compensation was ensured. Thus, the largest city sports event became one of the first such projects implemented in a carbon-neutral status.
"Titan Games" brought together more than 1.5 thousand participants from 15 regions of Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan in Kemerovo. During two days, employees of SUEK, SGK and EuroChem competed in eight sports, and fans supported their teams in the stands.
The carbon footprint calculation was performed in accordance with the international standard: air travel of participants, use of ground transport, hotel accommodation, as well as related products released specifically for the Spartakiad are taken into account. The volume of emissions amounted to 355 tons of CO₂ equivalent. Their compensation is ensured by retiring carbon units obtained as a result of the implementation of climate projects of the Melnichenko Foundation's partner — Siberian Generating Company (SGK). Carbon units were received by SGK following the results of modernization of heat supply systems in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Kemerovo and Novosibirsk Regions and credited in the National Register of Carbon Units in favor of the co-organizer of the games — "SUEK-Kuzbass".
"The environmental agenda has already moved beyond industrial production and today concerns, among other things, the organization of large-scale public events. 'Titan Games' showed that a federal-scale sports festival can be held with full compensation of the carbon footprint. For us, this is an opportunity not only to reduce the climate impact, but also to show the participants that a responsible attitude towards the environment consists of many practical solutions"
This year has been special for the "Titan Games": the AIM industrial group celebrates its 25th anniversary. In honor of the anniversary, the Spartakiad was held for the first time in a combined format, bringing together employees of the three largest industrial companies in the country — SUEK, SGK and EuroChem. The games included competitions in futsal, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, chess, darts, tug-of-war and the GTO complex standards. Also, a rich program outside the sports grounds awaited the participants. Interactive zones, creative sites, master classes and entertainment events for children were open for guests. This made the "Titan Games" a real city holiday, uniting residents and athletes from different regions.
The opening ceremony was attended by Ilya Seredyuk, Governor of the Kemerovo Region – Kuzbass.
"This sports project is an important example of how socially responsible business changes people's mood, opens up new prospects for their development. Over four years, the tournament has ceased to be just a corporate event; it has a significant impact on the development of sports – not only in Kuzbass, but also in the country as a whole, and even abroad. 'Titan Games' have become an important addition to the system of support for physical culture and sports that we have created and continue to develop in the region"
Russia has updated the ECG rating standard for business assessment
