Large Italian companies are increasingly active in the environmental challenge. Among these, the initiative announced today by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Snam stands out, which have started a collaboration for the development and implementation of reduction and absorption of CO emissions2, through reforestation interventions and the creation of green areas on the Italian territory. The goal is ambitious: to plant 2030 million new trees in Italy between now and 3.
For this a benefit company will be set up soon, which will promote and implement afforestation and reforestation initiatives on land owned by the public administration and local authorities, financially supported by companies and individuals, through the sale of planting services.
The collaboration between Cdp and Snam is aimed at promoting concrete actions to combat climate change, improve air quality in cities and create green areas for the benefit of local communities, in line with national strategic priorities and with the growing interest of public opinion on these issues.
The new company will be able to make use of the economic-financial expertise of Cdp, which will help to manage relations with the competent institutions, evaluating the involvement of the companies belonging to the Group and its network of suppliers. Snam will contribute industrial and technical know-how gained through years of experience in environmental restoration initiatives related to its infrastructure projects, as well as expertise in energy efficiency and urban reforestation.
For CDP, this project renews a commitment already stated in the 2019-2021 business plan, to respond to the major international trends relating to energy transition and climate change; and also for Snam the start of this partnership represents the natural evolution of un path of attention to biodiversity and the protection of the environment and natural heritage, which has characterized the company in eighty years of building infrastructures, even in delicate ecosystems such as croplands and parks.
Only in the last ten years, the company led by Marco Alverà has performed in Italy environmental restoration for over 2.000 kilometres, reforestation for over 200 kilometers and cultivation care for over 1.300 kilometres. The project is also consistent with the company's commitment to energy transition and is part of the definition of Snam's ESG strategy, which will be announced next November.
“The fight against climate change – he commented Fabrizio Palermo, CEO of CDP – is now an absolute priority. We need concrete actions to ensure a sustainable future. In fact, sustainability is one of the pillars of our Business Plan and CDP is engaged on several fronts, both nationally and internationally, with initiatives dedicated to energy efficiency, the development of renewable energies and the fight against hydrogeological instability. CDP, which in November 2019 was the first Italian financial institution to be accredited to the Green Climate Fund, the financial instrument promoted by the United Nations, continues with commitment to implementing adaptation and mitigation projects, also in order to allow Italy to affirm its strategic positioning in the context of the Climate Agenda. The establishment of this company together with Snam shows how our strategy leads to concrete and innovative projects for sustainable growth".
“With this new initiative – he added Marco Alverà, CEO of Snam – we want to make available to the country system and businesses a concrete tool to achieve the decarbonisation objectives by 2050, responding to the increasingly felt global need to combat climate change through forestation projects. We will leverage Snam's wealth of construction capacity, which has a long experience of environmental restoration in the territories, combined with new skills in urban forestation to support energy efficiency projects. In the last ten years alone, we have reforested over 1 million trees. This project with CDP further strengthens our commitment to the energy transition and demonstrates the ever-increasing integration of environmental, social and governance factors into our corporate strategies".
