Environmental management framework GRI 102–11

Russian Railways’ environmental management framework includes Health, Environmental, Industrial and Fire Safety Policy of the Russian Railways Group, planning, implementation of new processes, control and analysis by the management.

Russian Railways follows the principle of precaution and seeks to minimise its impact on the environment by focusing on the following critical areas:

• employing innovative technologies to protect air and water, reducing the amount of industrial and consumer waste landfilled, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and noise exposure;
• improving the environmental management framework;
• ensuring industrial environmental control and monitoring of the Company's environmental impact.

The monitoring exercise involves internal environmental audits and inspections in line with corporate requirements. When developing its investment projects, the Company conducts environmental impact surveys for a better understanding of natural and human-related conditions on the site, evaluating the environment and its vulnerability to human impact, forecasts potential changes in the environment due to the construction and operation, prepares recommendations to prevent environmental disturbance, and conducts environmental monitoring.

Russian Railways operates as many as 55 stationary industrial environmental laboratories accredited by the national accreditation system, 65 motor-vehicle laboratories, and 12 laboratories based on railway cars.

The laboratories have up-to-date analytical equipment and express analysis equipment for scheduled and unscheduled site visits to monitor environmental pollution by Russian Railways’ units.

The laboratories collect samples and conduct quantitative chemical analysis of natural and waste water samples, soil, and industrial waste, measure natural physical factors in residential housing areas and habitable areas.

In 2021, the Company conducted over 250,000 measurements, including more than 106,000 analyses of wastewater quality and water treatment equipment efficiency, over 43,000 measurements of pollutant emissions by stationary and mobile sources, over 13,000 analyses of railway infrastructure impact on adjacent territories, as well as other measurements.

The Company implements compensatory measures to preserve natural ecosystems.