Assolombarda, Lombardy Confindustria e Bank of Italy have presented, today, a Research on the topic “Climate change and business strategies”.
The survey, with the collaboration of the Lombard territorial associations, has the objective of analyze the placement of manufacturing companies of the region within the ecological transition. The study was developed through focus groups and a questionnaire administered to 533 manufacturing companies (70% are SMEs, 7% a micro-enterprise and 23% a large company).
The results of the survey
The results show that the Lombard production system he started to receive il change in place due to an increasingly growing awareness of the risks associated with climate change. There are many innovative companies that have experimented with new solutions in terms of environmental sustainability.
- areas examined by Research are different: energy supply, perception of physical and transition risks, management of greenhouse gas emissions and investments in environmental sustainability.
9 out of 10 companies do rely on top management to deal with the impact of environmental issues on governance (45% to the owner, partner or key shareholder; 32% to the CEO; 9% of the cases to the chairman; 6% to the general manager). The bigger the companies, the greater the attribution of environmental responsibility to an ad hoc figure.
With regard to the perception of the risks of climate change almost one in four companies claims to have been affected (directly or indirectly) by extreme weather events between 2017 and 2021 with greater risks for companies located in mountain provinces.
Firms perceive high i transition risks relating to legal, technological, reputational and market changes connected precisely to the ecological transition (78% of companies consider themselves directly or indirectly exposed and 45% directly). The most sensitive sectors are metallurgy, chemistry and rubber-plastic.
Only the 12% of Lombard companies manages to self-produce more than 10% of its energy needs from renewable sources and 12% of companies have cogeneration plants. Energy price increases and global instability (war and pandemic) have had a negative impact for more than half of companies (54%). There pandemic, moreover, has green investments slowed down among companies embarked on a path of improvement in terms of environmental sustainability. 21% of companies said that, without the pandemic, dedicated resources would have been greater.
The focus groups
Through focus groups with the top management of 35 manufacturing companies in Lombardy the strategies of some of the most active companies on the ecological transition front were examined. It emerges that investments in sustainability have increased.
Most of the more advanced feats performed investments for energy efficiency, with the replacement of obsolete systems and the use of innovative techniques and renewable energy. Numerous companies improve their environmental sustainability through the management of production waste, polluting emissions and waste, minimized through the reuse of materials so as to reduce waste of raw materials and the impact on the environment.
Assolombarda, Spada: Transition ecology can no longer be postponed
" ecological transition is one of challenges significant issues that businesses are called to face today, as well as in the near future. It is a path that can no longer be postponed, but already underway, which requires a rethinking of the phases of the value chain. To win the 'game' of the ecological transition it is necessary that institutions, social partners, businesses, local stakeholders work together on the issue of skills for train capable professionals to respond to the new needs dictated by sustainability. At the same time, action must be taken to reduce excessive bureaucratic burdens and make the rules more stable over time, as well as encouraging investment in sustainability, to accompany companies on this long journey. Like Assolombarda, we are working hard to make the sustainability an essential asset of our companies: an attitude that has its roots in a corporate culture historically attentive to the well-being of the local area and the community in which it operates”. said the president of Assolombarda, Alessandro Spada.
