ESG Management as a Component of the Competitive Strategy of Commercial Banks

The article substantiates the transformation of ESG management from a peripheral corporate social responsibility function into a structural element of the competitive strategy of commercial banks. Four transmission channels through which ESG management is converted into a sustainable competitive advantage are identified and systematised: access to international capital, the cost of capital and credit ratings, client-segment differentiation, and regulatory risk management. The empirical part examines the current state of ESG practice in the banking sector of Uzbekistan on the basis of documentary evidence for 2023–2026. It is established that, although individual banks have entered the international sustainable-debt market — including a green and sustainability bond of USD 400 million and UZS 2.25 trillion placed on the London Stock Exchange in July 2024 — ESG management has not yet acquired a systemic character: a national ESG disclosure methodology is absent and aggregate data on the volume of green lending are not collected. The author proposes a four-channel model of ESG-based competitive advantage and a set of managerial recommendations.