Photo: Sakhalin Energy

When the new global strategy Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was introduced to the world in 2015, it quickly became clear to the business community that the time for tacit support was over: Companies are expected to play a significant role in meeting and advancing the Fab 17 – the 17 SDGs. They now face a choice: Either they can sail along or show courage and join efforts with other players to end poverty, protect the planet, and drive peace and prosperity for all.

Sakhalin Energy faced the same dilemma. Before making landmark decisions, we needed to answer the questions What?, Where?, and Why? 

First we analyzed what relevance the SDGs had to our activities. We really appreciated the efforts of the Global Compact – in collaboration with leading CSR / SD organizations – to promote and explain the SDGs to business (SDG Industry Matrix, Compass, etc.); we realized that many of the Goals were directly relevant to the activities of one oil and gas company operating in the Russian Far East. Having a good grasp of the relation and importance of the SDGs to our business, we decided to make a public commitment. 

In 2016, through management decision, we updated our Sustainable Development Policy – the key document on sustainable development. One of the fundamentally new provisions was the adoption of commitments to the SDGs: “Sakhalin Energy strives to be a leader in the field of sustainable development, taking into account the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” 

The second step was to identify where we were on the sustainability journey and what our priorities were. 

While developing the annual Sustainable Development Report 2016, all the divisions of the company analyzed the data through the lens of the SDGs. According to the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines – and while trying to identify the material aspects of our business activities – Sakhalin Energy arranged open public dialogues with external stakeholders to share ideas on the ways the company could achieve the SDGs. Their prioritization confirmed that not all the SDGs were equally related to our business. Major areas are highlighted below.

• Ethical behavior and strong institutions (mainly reflected in SDG 16)

Respect, support, and promotion of human rights are our core principles and considered fundamental to success. By following the principles of the Code of Conduct – an integral part of our corporate governance and culture – we strive to be an honest and responsible business entity. The company provides employees, communities, and all other stakeholders with safe and confidential settings (grievance mechanisms, hotlines) for raising any concerns and reporting non-compliance. The company’s experiences with implementation of its grievance mechanisms are recognized highly on national and international levels. Sakhalin Energy became one of five companies worldwide to test the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights related to corporate grievance mechanisms and participated in the development of the Oil and Gas Sector Guide on implementing these Principles.

• Employees and sustainable healthcare (mainly reflected in SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10)

The company does its best to ensure labor safety by protecting the health of its personnel and community health; personnel development; and the attractiveness and competitiveness of its compensation and benefits package. In 2016 about 84 percent of the company’s employees participated in the general opinion survey. The majority of personnel continue to point out how seriously the company is committed to safety and work quality; occupational and environmental safety; equipment reliability; and process safety, which is remarkably good, since one of the company’s priorities in the field of safety is Goal Zero. According to employees, the company’s remuneration and benefits package remains competitive, and employees willingly recommend the company as a good employer.

• Responsible production and environmental impact assessment (mainly reflected in SDGs 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15)

While planning and implementing any production activities, Sakhalin Energy has always paid special attention to environment protection. Being the operator of a global-scale oil and gas project, the company realizes how important it is to monitor any impact on the environment. Sakhalin Energy carries out regular industrial environmental control and implements a number of local environmental monitoring and biodiversity conservation programmes, as per national and international standards. The Gray Whale Monitoring Programme has been one of the most successful. In 2016, the company again received recognition at the highest national level. It became the first in the environmental responsibility ranking – conducted by the WWF of Russia – among the country’s oil and gas companies. It also won the national contest of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs – Russian Business Leaders: Dynamics and Responsibility in the Environmental Responsibility category.

• Community investments and partnerships (mainly reflected in SDGs 4, 10, 11, 17)

Since the start, the company has paid close attention to the implementation of social and community investments in a host territory – Sakhalin Island. Significant and consistent investments in the social sphere as well as longterm policies focused on addressing social issues are the core of Sakhalin Energy’s commitment to sustainable development principles. In the area of social investments, Sakhalin Energy focuses on implementing strategic, longterm partnership projects with external stakeholders. In 2016, Sakhalin Energy was the first in the Russian ranking of the Corporate Philanthropy Leaders project. It is a joint project supporting, developing, and promoting corporate philanthropy led by the Donors Forum NGO, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the Vedomosti business newspaper. The Sakhalin Indigenous Minorities Development Plan is a globally recognized success story, given its strong partnership approach and implementation of the free, prior, and informed consent principle.

The joint work of internal and external stakeholders has resulted in the Sakhalin Energy Sustainable Development Report, which focuses on the SDGs, and specifically on ecology. The company has also taken a decision to disclose SDG-related information via our annual Sustainable Development Reports, at least until 2030.

In 2016 Sakhalin Energy made a public report, Sustainable Development Goals: Business Role and Opportunities, at the extended meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility and Demographic Policy, with the participation of the Steering Committee of the UN Global Compact Network Russia and the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.

Last but not least: Why? Because we care. We feel responsible. We want to be involved. We are strongly committed to continue our internal work on SDGs and their support externally, and serve as a promoter of the SDGs where and when we can, especially in remote regions such as Sakhalin Island. As for transformation being successful, it needs to be universal, no matter where you live and what you do. The transformation has started.