Human capital and social responsibility of business in the focus of the national sustainable development agenda

The concept of sustainable development has now gained a “second wind” in the context of the updated national agenda for the socio-economic development of the country, defined by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin for the next five to ten years. Human capital and business social responsibility are becoming a powerful driver for the implementation of national goals, which are based on the principles of human-centricity. The subject of the research is tools for assessing responsible business conduct and stimulating the contribution of organizations to achieving Russia’s national development goals. The purpose of the work is to identify modern tools for monitoring and evaluating responsible business conduct that meet the interests of the state, and initiatives that encourage businesses to proactively engage in achieving the country’s national development goals. The article discusses the principles of human-centricity and the best domestic practices in assessing the human-centricity index, and defines its social mission for both company employees and society. The analysis of the provisions of the draft standard of public capital of business and the standard of reporting on sustainable development is given, their interrelation is shown. A set of universal and individual essential topics applied to the disclosure of sustainable development in human capital is proposed. The importance of implementing specific indicators within the framework of these significant topics in financial reporting indicators is substantiated. It is concluded that it is important to develop indicators that comprehensively reflect the company’s contribution to achieving Russia’s national goals set for the period up to 2030 and for the future up to 2036.

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