ESG Community on the road: first stop is at Autostrade

ESG Community on the road: first stop is at Autostrade

In Milan, at the Aspi headquarters, discussions are taking place on sustainability issues involving key economic players in the country

To foster synergies between the nation's industrial and financial leaders through a structured and ongoing discussions on environmental, social and governance matters, is the goal with which the ESG Community - a sustainability driven network which met at the headquarters of Autostrade per l'Italia in Milan and promoted by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti in July 2023 - was founded and continues to expand. This event is the first in a series of meetings that will be hosted by companies within the ESG Community, designed to offer firsthand experiences of sustainability projects.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Elisabetta Oliveri, Chairman of Autostrade per l'Italia; Fabio Massoli, CFO of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti; Matteo Mura, Director of the Centre for Sustainability and Climate Change at the Bologna Business School and Mark Esposito, Lecturer at the Division of Continuing Education at Harvard University.

In addition to the CDP Group1, some of Italy's leading economic entities are members of the ESG Community, including: Ansaldo Energia, Autostrade per l'Italia, CDP Venture Capital, ENI, Euronext, Fincantieri, Fondo Italiano di Investimento SGR, Greenit, Italgas, NEXI, Open Fiber, Polo Strategico Nazionale, Poste Italiane, Renovit, Saipem, Snam, Terna, Hotelturist (TH Resorts), Gruppo Trevi, Valvitalia and Webuild.

The network, which meets quarterly, strives to promote the integration of a comprehensive approach across all sustainability dimensions. This acknowledgment reflects the growing recognition of the strategic significance of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors for the collective overall well-being and progress.

Less than a year after its launch, the ESG Community has already made substantial progress in sharing tools and projects aimed at stakeholder engagement across multiple fronts, with a specific emphasis on fostering cooperation between industrial and financial sectors to accelerate the ecological transition. Non-financial reporting challenges take centre stage, particularly in light of the European Sustainability Reporting Directive (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive - CSRD) which imposes increasingly rigorous obligations on companies.

‘Throughout our history at CDP, we have consistently embraced a patient and complementary role as both shareholder and financier within the market, aiming to foster a systemic approach and engage our stakeholders in the multifaceted challenge of sustainability. Since 2022, we have integrated an impact assessment of our operations and as a result of this new approach, more than 80% of the resources deployed in 2023 were allocated to sustainability goals. Mr. Massoli, CFO of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, stated, "Our ambition is now to promote ESG principles across the value chain through the ESG Community."
 
The community reflects the CDP Group's dedication to promote engagement and best practices knowledge-sharing with its key stakeholders, resulting in a series of activities and events geared towards promoting sustainability on different levels over the past two years.  Noteworthy initiatives comprise the series of consultations initiated in 2022 with civil society on ESG policies and the introduction of the annual ‘Multistakeholder Forum’ event. In 2023, CDP additionally ratified the General Policy on Stakeholder Engagement, one of the initial policies to be specifically tailored not only to shareholders and investors but to all stakeholder categories, and concurrently championed the ESG Master programme for Group employees, in partnership with the Business School of the University of Bologna, which by the end of the year is set to be accessible to participants from all companies within the ESG Community.

1CDP S.p.A, CDP Equity, CDP Real Asset SGR, CDP Reti, Simest e Fintecna