Environment, only one in five companies offset their carbon footprint

Everyone invests in greens And internationalization (but little), and the training it is aimed at managers and not at new hires. That’s what emerged from “Competitive strategies and skills development”a new investigation by Forem, a training body of the Confindustria system active especially on Veneto companies. Proposed for the fourth consecutive year, this survey, which involved many metalworking companies, aims to understand the business needs. The interviewees were presented with a set of 12 possible objectives for their organization, to be pursued in the two-year period 2023-2024, asking them to distribute a hypothetical investment capital of 100 euros among the various priorities.

The analysis of the weight attributed to the various strategies makes it possible to identify which ones have a priority higher than the average, creating the conditions for delineating four main clusters. Companies wishing to invest in green themes there are many (96), but they declare a low investment (8 euros); same values ​​when talking about internationalization (90 companies). The investment rises to 10 euros when it comes to product innovationcompanies on the other hand invest three times as much when the goal is increase turnover.

The survey therefore focused attention on the investments already made by the single company in the last two-year period 2021-2022, collecting which factors are able to enhance its competitive capacity have been the subject of expenditure by the organization. 98% of the companies interviewed declare that they have made at least one investment; the acquisition of new plant or machinery recorded the highest frequency (41% of the panel), followed by software equipment (23%).

The development of personnel skills ranks third (21%); investments dedicated to the creation and development of new products or services stop at 13%. “Investments are scarce in relative terms because so far companies have concentrated on materiality analyses, the drafting of reporting documents towards the market or customers and the policies to be adopted – he comments Matteo Sinigaglia, director general of Fòrema – We expect investments in technologies, processes and materials used to start now. The expenditure on plant and machinery was made for profitability and margins, but has potential positive effects on environmental performance”.

69% of the panel states that they have already started a path aimed at environmental sustainability. The most frequently carried out activities presuppose awareness raising and green awareness initiatives (70% of respondents), analysis of the environmental impacts generated by the company (57%), the adoption of new policies and dedicated guidelines (56% ); 36% of the panel has already found itself in a position to make declarations on its environmental sustainability to the market, to production or financial partners, to public lenders. Companies that base their strategies on environmental performance and internationalization (more exposed to market dynamics) demonstrate that they are positioned at a more advanced point in the path towards sustainability; on the other hand, the adoption of growth strategies shows a lower than average attention to environmental issues.

26% of the panel reports that they have not used resources in structured projects capable of improve the environmental impact of activities. Among the projects carried out most frequently by industrial companies, we note the structural measures for the containment of emissions, waste and production waste (60%), the acquisition of environmental certifications for the product or the company (51%) and the use of the eco-innovation approach applied to the materials used, the design of the products and the production processes (48%).”The overall sensation – concludes Sinigaglia – is that the green approach at the moment is more connected to those who work in the international arena”.