CDP operates according to a risk-return-impact model designed to maximise impacts on the economy, society and the environment.
The Strategic Guidelines and responsible financing and investment policies provide a reference framework to guide CDP’s actions more effectively towards the sustainable development of the country.
Through the Sustainable Development Assessment (SDA), we integrate traditional risk and return analyses with a prior assessment of the strategic relevance and potential impacts of operations. During the funding phase, we monitor project progress and implementation. Once operations are completed, we conduct impact assessments to learn from experience and improve our strategy by focusing on high-impact initiatives.
Throughout the appraisal phase, CDP is dedicated to assigning an ex-ante sustainability and impact score to each operation, with the objective of prioritising projects that demonstrate sustainability and can deliver concrete benefits across critical aspects of sustainable well-being.
The score is calculated using the Sustainable Development Assessment (SDA) model, which incorporates well-established international frameworks. This model provides a summary score ranging from 0 to 10, with the highest rating awarded to operations that generate the most significant economic, social and environmental impact.
In detail, the SDA model considers several elements, including:
For more complex and strategic projects, the assessment also involves specialised analysis of technical and economic aspects, considering factors such as design, technical expertise of the counterparts and the technical architecture of the proposed interventions.
Monitoring involves organising a data and information collection system to reconstruct an overall snapshot of current financing and investments.
This initiative informs stakeholders of what CDP has financed, the characteristics of the counterparties and regions where the investments have been made and the status of funded projects.
By reclassifying the resources deployed by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti based on priority areas, monitoring provides a detailed overview of what is being financed in terms of strategic objectives. In line with the four macro-areas identified in the Strategic Plan and the CDP Group’s 2025-2027 ESG Plan, which defines the guidelines and targets driving CDP’s actions, physical performance indicators are identified to monitor the progress of funded projects.
These physical performance indicators measure the project’s final objectives, that is, the tangible outcomes the investment is intended to achieve. The monitoring phase thus makes it possible to verify the expected and actual results of the funded projects. For example, if CDP has granted financing to build a bicycle path, the physical performance indicator will be the number of kilometres of bicycle path to be completed by the counterparty, which is subject to monitoring.
As part of the monitoring, sample surveys may complement the measurement of physical performance indicators, to broaden the scope of analysis and verify whether the projects are effectively addressing local issues or whether potential obstacles exist.
CDP’s risk-return-impact model is completed with a subsequent assessment measuring the impact generated.
The assessment is conducted on clusters of similar projects and on CDP’s overall activity, and is structured in two phases:
Impact is measured in economic terms (GDP generated), in social terms (number of jobs created and maintained) and in environmental terms (CO2 reduction).
Furthermore, for clusters of similar projects within the same domain, CDP estimates impacts based on strategic guidelines and targets. This activity helps improve CDP’s strategy and maximise its impacts.
Explore Monitoring and Impact Assessment Results in the relevant section.