Atlantia and the “green” challenge: the first framework adopted

“Even if the economic situation and international tensions seem to redefine priorities, the issue of sustainability remains central to company strategies because it is closely linked to the creation of long-term value”. It is the belief of Tiziano Ceccarani, chief financial officer of Atlantiaa holding company in transport infrastructure and mobility services, which has recently published the Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework, a document which ratifies the full integration of sustainability in the financing strategy of the entire group. The tool, built with the support of Cacib (Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank) as ESG advisor, contains clear, defined and measurable objectives on the entire portfolio of assets managed, to allow constant monitoring of the progress of programs and industrial initiatives to implement the energy transition of its assets. An approach in line with the strategic guidelines of sustainability and innovation also indicated by edition president, Alessandro Benettonat the time of the launch of theOpa on Atlantia.

“In defining the framework, developed on the basis of the commitments undertaken also by our subsidiaries, we moved in the awareness that in the sectors in which we operate sustainability is a fundamental commitment for the future of our business and the framework allows us to make this commitment even more concrete, linking all of the company’s financing activities to the company’s sustainability goals,” he underlines Ceccarani. To then recall that this initiative is part of a global path of Italian society on the theme of sustainability, which among other things has led Moody’s to include it in1% of the most advanced multinationals on the ESG front (acronym used to indicate entrepreneurial strategies focused on the environment, social inclusion and good governance rules).

Among the commitments undertaken, the halving by 2050 direct CO2 emissions on the entire portfolio of activitiesin line with the provisions of the conferences UN on the climate, with the aim of helping to limit global warming. This aim is complemented by two other metrics such as the cut in indirect emissions by the main subsidiaries abertis (motorway concessions held by Atlantiain partnership with the Spanish Acs) And Rome airports, as well as the commitment to manage the long-term energy transition of the assets in the portfolio to combat climate change also through the progressive use of energy from renewable sources with the simultaneous abandonment of fossil fuels. “With the framework we confirm, also from a business point of view, the commitment to comply with the ESG objectives established along a transformation path under the banner of responsibility and transparency”, underlines Katia Riva, chief sustainability & innovation officer.

For what concern social front, Atlantia – on which a five-day window reopens today to close the takeover bid launched in October by Edition And Blackstone and aimed at the delisting of the company – reaffirms its commitment to concretely enable gender equality in the infrastructure sector, especially among top management roles. The expected exit from the Stock Exchange therefore does not limit the validity of the document, which can be applied to all the company’s loans.

The commitments made will involve costs, but with positive returns in the medium term, also in terms of economics. Riva recalls how the holding company chaired by Giampiero Massolo was the first in Italy to have submitted to the shareholders’ vote the climate action plan, approved with more than 98% of the votes. A step presented by the company not only as a theme of sustainability, but of strategic business development. Which means indicating the company’s long-term objectives, as well as making concrete the social role of a group that is active in areas of direct interest to the community, such as mobility and transport. And also to introduce an element of clarity in a scenario in which there is much talk of sustainability, but tools are not always provided to interpret the results obtained. The company has made a commitment to bring the activities in its portfolio to zero direct emissions by 2040, thus anticipating the commitments of theParis Climate Agreementand to do so it focuses on various interventions, from the progressive electrification of the 3,000 means of transport available to the growing use of energy from renewable sources, to arrive at 100% green energy supply.