Growth and sustainability: when business models manage to integrate with respect for the environment

Doing business by managing to integrate with the ecosystem of which it belongs: this is the great challenge that awaits companies from every corner of the world in the coming years. The understanding of environmental, social and governance factors has been summarized in the now famous acronym ESG (Environment, Social and Governance). But in addition to the acronyms and proclamations, not all large organizations are able to move effectively in the field of sustainability. An example of mere communicative exploitation of environmental issues is the so-called “greenwashing”, a series of strategies that aim to build a deceptively positive image, in order to divert attention from the negative effects of one’s activities on the ecosystem.

The other side of the coin instead shows many groups concretely committed to pursuing rigorous environmental policies. These include Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), which in its third Integrated Report highlighted a new intrinsically sustainable business model.

In the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan, the Group has put pen to paper a new vision that aims at sustainable growth, evaluating loans and investments in the light of the Strategic Guidelines and the Policies adopted and the ability to generate a positive impact. In order to be more incisive, it is in fact necessary to systematically measure the impact that the interventions generate in favor of the economic, social and environmental development of businesses, territories and the country as a whole. On this front, CDP has introduced an important novelty by moving from a risk-return model to a risk-return-impact model, aligning itself with the most advanced international financial institutions that promote economic policy objectives.

In addition, the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan identified 4 key challenges for the country and ten fields of intervention in which to concentrate the action of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, aligned with the UN’s sustainable development goals. In 2022, this centrality of sustainability translated into three important innovations: the 10 fields of intervention were broken down into as many strategic-sectoral guidelines in order to be able to define how strategic an initiative is and consequently outline the indicators useful for monitor and evaluate projects ex-post; sustainability policies have been introduced which aim to integrate ESG criteria in investment and financing choices; the first ESG Plan was approved, which instead defines internal sustainability targets (e.g. diversity and inclusion, digital transformation and responsible procurement). The Plan is the result of an innovative level of methodology, which perfects the integration of the concept of double materiality launched in 2021: in fact, the impacts associated with CDP’s activities were assessed according to the double inside-out perspective (i.e. the impacts towards the outside) and outside-in (i.e. the impacts towards the inside).

In this scenario, the Board of Directors of Cassa approved the first target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the so-called carbon footprint, of the CDP portfolio relating to direct loans to the private sector. In particular, a target of reducing the intensity of emissions by 30% by 2030, compared to the final figure for 2022, has been set. The initiative complements the ESG Plan and is a key component of the objectives of the group’s strategic plan. This is a further step in the path that CDP has undertaken for the green transition, the results of which will be measured and reported starting from the 2023 integrated report.

The results of Cassa’s new sustainable operations translated into positive impacts for the Italian economy. Thus, 70% of the over 30 billion resources committed in 2022 went towards sustainability objectives. Furthermore, the Group’s contribution to the country’s growth reached 1.7% of the GDP. Also noteworthy are the approximately 62 billion euros of additional production and the 470 thousand jobs created and maintained (+70 thousand compared to 2021), of which 20% represented by young people and 40% by women.