This paper first touches on global trends in environmental investment and information disclosure, focusing on Russia, which is not only the world’s largest energy resources country but also a major powerhouse of environmental resources such as forest and water. This paper describes recent institutional developments in Russia and examines the reasons for the lack of progress in environmental investment and information disclosure, compared with other countries from a broader perspective of the transformation of institutions and economic systems.

First, this paper points out that the development of a system for non-financial information disclosure, which has been under way in Russia since 2017, has been interrupted due to the government’s response to the pandemic and changes in companies’ information disclosure obligations. Second, this paper identifies that Russian companies’ reluctance to take environmental measures due to the weakening of environmental administration since the transition to a market economy, the existence of resource rents, and the low priority of the environment in the social cost burden by companies, have become obstacles to proceed environmental investment and information disclosure in Russia. Third, this paper explains that corporate governance system of Russian companies has still been characterized by a concentration of insider ownership, which hinders environmental investment and information disclosure in the country, whilst there have been almost no independent outside directors who are expected to promote and supervise the disclosure process in a timely and appropriate manner. At the same time, this paper reveals that internal corporate systems, such as the establishment of committees related to non-financial information and its incorporation into a performance-linked compensation system, have been not yet in place in Russia.