Problems and Opportunities of ESG-rating for Assessing the Sustainable Development Progress of Russian Cities

Despite the unequivocal facts of the demand for the ESG agenda, its distribution across the country is uneven and it is extremely difficult to conduct a comparative analysis of regions and cities, since existing methods do not always allow us to assess the level of ESG maturity. An urgent problem is the lack of tools to assess the development of the ESG agenda in Russian cities. The key research question is whether the application of ESG rating is relevant and a tool for assessing the maturity of the ESG agenda in Russian cities. The purpose of this work is to study the existing mechanisms for assessing the development of the ESG agenda in Russian cities and analyze the problems and prospects of ESG rating as one of the most common tools for assessing the sustainable development of Russian cities. In practical terms, the work can be useful to the following specialists: urbanists, scientists, development institutions, urban residents, developers, entrepreneurs, federal authorities, local and regional administrations to assess the environmental, demographic and labor sustainability of urban space and cities. ESG-rating of cities allows you to identify cities that need to adjust for sustainable development through management decisions and when choosing investment projects.