The largest telecom operator intends to enter the ESG - Sustainanalytics international rating in 2023. 

On the eve the issues of integrating ESG principles into the company's business processes were discussed in Kazakhtelecom, having already begun a deep transformation, rethinking approaches to doing business and issues of social responsibility. 

It should be noted that quite a lot has been said about ESG, sustainable and low-carbon development, decarbonization in recent years, but companies and people do not always have an understanding of what is hidden behind these terms, much less the practical implementation of certain initiatives or step-by-step instructions for achieving the intended sustainable development goals. In fact, everything is simple – it is the development of human capital, improvement of industrial safety, corporate governance, labor protection, improving the well-being of people, reducing the impact on the environment, energy efficiency. “We at Kazakhtelecom decided to choose a different strategy, namely, at the initial stage we immersed ourselves in the topic of the issue, and then developed for ourselves a step-by-step, detailed and clear plan according to which the company should move to achieve the sustainable development goals. 

Since 2016, from approval of the new Corporate Governance Code, we have been steadily following this plan, simultaneously noting in our checklist already implemented projects or completed stages, tasks for the current moment and for the future,” - Kuanyshbek Yessekeyev said, the CEO of Kazakhtelecom JSC. By the way, in our immediate plans, the company has a rather ambitious goal – to get into the international ESG Sustainanalytics rating, then achieve a 13% reduction in emissions and gradually come to carbon neutrality and decarbonization. 

At the same time, it is worth noting that the telecommunications industry does not belong to the category of significant environmental pollutants, but the request for “green” Data centers and a more responsible attitude to energy consumption is becoming more relevant every year. Therefore, among the priorities for the near future, Kazakhtelecom has the construction of new innovative and environmentally friendly data processing centers and modernization of existing ones, strengthening the concept of ensuring information security of data, through the introduction of new technologies and the development of the ZeroTrust concept. 

“The 4 hours spent today with colleagues in heated discussions clearly showed us in which areas it is necessary to intensify efforts, in what we are “down” and what we need to focus on in order to achieve the goals and principles of ESG and sustainable development,” - Kuanyshbek Yessekeyev concluded after the meeting. Today, the company has already developed a Sustainable Development Policy, approved regulatory documents responsible for the development of the quality of environmental protection, occupational safety, personnel policy, employee health and much more.