The Ministry of Labor Defined the Personnel Requirements for ESG Specialists

As the maturity of the sustainable development agenda continues to increase, the demand for professionals in this field also continues to grow.

Many employers, however, face the challenge of determining how much knowledge and qualifications a sustainable development specialist should possess. This issue will soon be partly resolved, as the professional standard for sustainable development specialists is currently being finalized.

The document, which can be found on the Normative Legal Acts portal (https://regulation.gov.ru), includes four general labour functions that a sustainable development professional should possess:

(1) assessment of the current state of sustainable development within an organization, work, or territory;
(2) systemic management of sustainable development and social responsibility;
(3) expertise and audit of sustainable practices; 
(4) strategic management of sustainable development and social responsibility. 

At School of Finance, we are confident that our two master's programs, which are practice-oriented, are already producing specialists who have skills and knowledge that largely meet, and in some respects exceed, the requirements of the industry standard. This is thanks to disciplines such as financing sustainable development, strategic management, and corporate risk management, which are taught by teachers who have practical experience in the field and know first-hand what modern businesses require from specialists in the ESG field.
However, the new professional standard should not only meet but also exceed the requirements of employers. In our opinion, therefore, the requirements of the standard should be expanded to include additional skills for specialists. These skills include areas that are in high demand by employers, such as:

(1) predictive and advanced analytics;
(2) integrated risk management;
(3) modern methods of scenario analysis and stress testing;
(4) the Internet of Things;
(5) artificial intelligence models, including large language models

These skills will help specialists to stay competitive in the job market and provide them with the knowledge and abilities required to excel in their roles. By expanding the requirements of the professional standard, we can ensure that specialists are equipped with the skills needed to meet the demands of modern businesses.