What your organization can learn from Russia’s ESG rating downgrade
Go beyond letter grades to tell the story of what your organization is actually doing.
The largest company that assigns Environmental, Social and Governance rankings is taking the invasion of Ukraine very seriously.
MSCI cut its ESG rating of Russia two notches, from BBB to B, one rung above the lowest level on its seven-point scale. What does Russian President Vladimir Putin have to do to earn his country a CCC, the lowest rating?
If an unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation is not enough, what about shelling nonmilitary targets, resulting in the hundreds of civilian deaths and injuries? MSCI doesn’t say. But it has put the Russian bear on a “negative outlook,” so stay tuned.
Maybe Putin wants to put a “P” at the end of CCC to restore the abbreviation for the former Soviet Union, whose unraveling 30 years ago appears to be driving his attack.
Russia’s ESG rating didn’t reflect the heightened risk of damage to its economy posed by the practices that the ratings were intended to measure. This comes amid mounting questions about the accuracy of corporate ESG ratings.
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