OUR COMMITMENT TO TRANSITIONING TO LOW-CARBON
by LAURA ZANETTI and CARLO PESENTI
By adhering to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), Italmobiliare has committed to setting short and long-term emission reduction targets in line with the net-zero scenario.
In recent years, our daily lives have been shaken up by a series of dramatic events. While initially these seemed to push the climate emergency or growing social inequalities off the front pages, in fact they made reflections on the present, but above all on the future, even more urgent. A future where everyone, starting with businesses and the more important economic players, must be aware of the need to create value and express values that are truly shared and sustainable.
This belief is one of the founding pillars of Italmobiliare. In its long history as an investment holding company in industry and finance, it was one of the forerunners in Italy to have an innovative approach to sustainability.
Even back in the nineties, it built ambitious sustainability programmes into its main industrial holdings, fully integrated into strategic development priorities and coordinated by dedicated functions. As a result of this experience, a constant commitment to best practice has developed over time. From principles to policies, from processes to products, from local and global initiatives to reporting tools, goal being to help deal with global challenges, while at the same time protecting and strengthening financial performance for the benefit of shareholders and all other stakeholders.
This vision was further strengthened when Italmobiliare redesigned itself as a modern investment holding company. It chose sustainability as an integrated driver for success, investing primarily in companies with high potential for growth in their business and in their market, but also with a strong propensity for innovation and sustainability.
Thanks to this strategy, Italmobiliare now ranks as one of the leading companies in the main ESG Ratings worldwide. At the same time, it has been creating value for its shareholders, given that it has distributed more than 200 million euro of dividends over the last five years. This confirms that if sustainability is properly integrated into the business, it too can be a driver of success.
Nor have we deviated from our path because of the difficult economic situation. In fact, it has spurred us on to pick up speed. In 2020, Italmobiliare boosted its sustainability strategy even more by taking part in the UN Global Compact. The objectives are even stronger integration of ESG into the processes of the holding company, more effective management of the subsidiaries and clear guidance for the associated companies. All subsidiaries will soon join the UN Global Compact directly, as will many of the associates.
In 2021, Italmobiliare updated its Code of Ethics and Sustainability Policies with the express purpose of highlighting its sustainability strategy. It has been integrated by our Responsible Investment Policy, which clearly identifies the Sustainable Development Goals as a model for value creation. These documents, which constitute our identity, have gradually become the reference point for all of the Group's portfolio companies.
In 2022, Italmobiliare accelerated yet again, involving the entire investment portfolio. The fight against climate change was already the focal element of environmental action, with effective initiatives that made it possible to significantly reduce direct and indirect emissions from electricity consumption as early as last year. In the wake of these results, the Board of Directors approved our participation in the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which involved Italmobiliare making a commitment to set short- and long-term emission reduction targets in line with the net-zero scenario.
The challenge of decarbonisation has been definitively accepted, in the awareness that the ability we show in managing the low-carbon transition is not only the primary characteristic of resilience of each individual company and of the investment portfolio as a whole, but also the only way to take full advantage of any opportunities for growth and distinction that might arise. By joining the Science Based Targets initiative, Italmobiliare is tasked with ensuring the full scientific and strategic solidity of its climate actions, with the active contribution of all the companies in its portfolio.
Long-term goals are aiming for net-zero in 2050. This means taking action not only on the direct consumption of thermal energy and electricity by individual companies, but also on the design of new products and services; above all, on supply and distribution chains, selecting and stimulating business partners towards low-carbon solutions. However, the commitment to the SBTi also calls for short-term reduction targets, i.e. by 2030, which means taking immediate decisions and integrating them fully into our strategic plans.
The global economic situation is still volatile. However, as a result of the experience accumulated over our long industrial history, together with the professionalism and expertise of the men and women who work for Italmobiliare and the portfolio companies, we can look to the future with confidence. A future that Italmobiliare aspires to build as a protagonist, in the knowledge that social and economic well-being will depend on our ability to create sustainable value and express positive values.
As Italmobiliare, we also have another duty: to study the future so that we can develop immediate guidelines for our portfolio companies, to help them along this path. Now is the time to act.
