La sustainability it represents the only possible element for the responsible development of companies of all sectors and sizes operating in international or local contexts. The integration of sustainability risks within the production systems allows not only to operate from a perspective of being more attentive to environmental, social and governance policies, but at the same time to improve the economic return for stakeholders and increase growth of the Italian system also in real terms. Production efficiency cannot escape the search for new alternative energy sources, product innovation, transparency in governance and the social impact of one's development strategies. This is what emerged on the first day of the Savings Fair 2022 of Milan, the largest Italian event on asset management.
The energy crisis and the current international political context leading to significant changes have created new balances and are factors that can contribute to increasing the energy transition and the reduction of dependencies on gas and more generally on fossil fuels.
How is the company moving in an increasingly complex and changing global context? What are the strategies to be implemented on production processes for a sustainable transition? How can you properly assess the impact of your company's ESG conversion?
Three players in three very different sectors of the Italian economy provide an answer to these questions, linked by a strong interest: sustainability. Saverio Perissinotto, CEO and General Manager of Eurizon Capital Sgtr, Gaetano Marzotto, president of the Santa Margherita wine group e Federico Baroncelli , Esgr Investor Relations Manager of Enel spa.
Savings Fair 2022: Saverio Perissinotto of Eurizon
ESG is also a long-term path for the financial industry. Eurizon started this process 25 years ago. “Everything stems from a relationship of trust between us and the customer on expected return and risk, today a third variable enters: being respectful of sustainability. Our role is also to help companies be sustainable”, said the number one of Eurizon.
“Sustainability is also the result of individual behavior and has become one of the values that Eurizon colleagues have made their own and put into practice with individual behavior – continued Perissinotto -. There is a well-defined metric on how to invest in sustainability: investing in companies that respect sustainability in the long term gives better results. Work must be done to make this investment process as transparent as possible. Everything we do in terms of sustainability is tracked and made available to the customer. The real issue is access for the final customer to this wealth of information”.
For the CEO of Eurizon it is necessary to ensure that access to ESG issues is not a regulatory burden but increases saver awareness.
Eurizon has joined the Net Zero Asset Manager Initiative in November last year and is strongly engaged with extremely sustained engagement actions on these issues to achieve these objectives. "The Human capital it is important in all sectors, especially in asset management. It is the main feature and coincides with competence, not only financial skills but also in different fields, including the humanities. The other fundamental element is having curiosity and thinking outside the box. In our sector it is fundamental and necessary to achieve that good innovation that we mentioned earlier. Another fundamental element is financial education, because our constitution has been protective in putting savings at the centre, but we still need to work to increase financial literacy which remains the last mile. The ESG issue is a path and is much more felt by the new generations. The risk to avoid is making the saver experience the ESG issue as a regulatory aspect”, concluded Perissinotto.
Gaetano Marzotto of the Santa Margherita wine group
“Our story began in the US 35 years ago and we have now become best sellers thanks to the Santa Margherita pinot gris that goes well with both Mediterranean and US cuisine. Since then, his grandfather had embraced sustainability even if he didn't know he was doing it: for him it was important that there was a good land, excellent cellars and men who knew how to make wine". These are Marzotto's words.
“Respecting the land also means avoiding the use of pesticides and respecting the wine means removing the bisulphites. Now the energy issue is also central: the cost of gas, together with that of labor and raw materials, is very significant. We are striving for mix the various sources of energy, following paths that are feasible in not too long times, hoping for de-bureaucratization”, continued the president of the Santa Margherita wine group.
“You also need to think about younger generations: generation x (forty-year-olds), y (thirty-year-olds) and z (twenty-year-olds) who are very sensitive to the whole environmental sphere. And not only as regards the product, but also its packaging. In our supply chain, 50% of the packaging is recycled: in this way much less energy and much less water are consumed. People are getting used to returning used glass and we also have 3 companies in Italy that collect glass from municipal companies”, concluded Marzotto.
Federico Baroncelli of Enel
“Enel has been starting sustainability paths since 2014: now we need to accelerate in the direction of renewable energies. Not only are they cheaper, they are good for the environment, but now they are also needed to be able to gain independence from Russia. Things are now improving, especially since the government passed the decree to lighten the bureaucracy,” said Baroncelli.
“Enel started issuing bonds a long time ago green bonds. But since 2019 we have made an even more incisive choice by instead starting to issue the "Sustainability-Linked bonds" linked to the achievement of Enel's sustainability objective relating to the reduction of direct greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1), contributing to the objective of sustainable development 13 (Fight against climate change) and in accordance with the Group's Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework. In practice, the bond mechanism provides for an increase in the coupon if the objectives are not achieved.
These issues were rewarding because the cost of funding was 15-20 basis points lower than the others”.
With the company Strategic Plan presented to the financial community in November 2021, Enel brought forward its commitment by 10 years 'Net Zero', from 2050 to 2040, for both direct and indirect emissions. In particular, Enel is committed to achieving zero emissions without resorting to offsetting measures - such as CO2 removal technologies or nature-based solutions - with regard to energy generation and the sale of electricity to end customers, as well as exit the retail gas business. "In addition to bringing forward the goal of completely decarbonising its energy mix from 2050 to 2040, Enel has also confirmed the 2030 goal of reducing direct emissions of CO2eq per kWh by 80% compared to 2017", underlined Baroncelli .
The envisaged path towards the 2040 target also includes a direct greenhouse gas emission intensity target, measured in grams of CO2eq per kWh, equal to or less than 140gCO2eq/kWh by 2024.
