Italian companies and ESG approach: Sustainability Lab's latest study published

Dynamo Academy and SDA Bocconi's Sustainability Lab presented the results of the "Corporate Social Investment and ESG" research, which analyzed the non-financial reporting (NFS) of 213 Italian companies and was able to compare the data that emerged with the Global Impact at Scale, the CECP global network's analysis of corporate action in ESG and social investment issues globally. How does Italy fare in this comparison?

"59% of Italian companies today have an ESG Committee," says Francesco Perrini, Director of SDA Bocconi Sustainability Lab and, since December 2022, Associate Dean for Sustainability "A number that has increased fivefold since a few years ago, which puts us in line with the global tally recorded by Global Impact at Scale, which stands at 61%. The most virtuous sectors? Healthcare, Holding and Transportation."

The study also focuses on how many companies have a strategy and action plan for sustainability. "From the analysis of the sample," Professor Perrini explains, "44 percent of companies draw up their own sustainability strategy and action plan, and 67 percent of these cite the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their strategy. This is in line with the previous year and the international average of 72 percent."

While for environmental issues there are numerous metrics, KPIs and indicators available to report on the actions taken, on social issues, instead, there isn't the same uniformity of standards. This results in 54% of companies considering it challenging to measure the results of the "S." 74% of Italian companies have, however, included a chapter for in-depth analysis, and 78% consider community and their environment as actual stakeholders of reference.

 "When you get into the 'S' all the difficulties of putting concrete actions in place emerge," stresses Serena Porcari, president of Dynamo Academy. "Dynamo helps companies understand what social impact means and how to make it tangible. Our research also serves to explain to companies how strategic it is for them to invest in all areas of ESG."

Among the evidence from the international research, it is noted that community investments see an increase in median value of 13 percent, but donations as a percentage of pre-tax profits decrease by 23 percent; thus, purely philanthropic aspects decrease, but there is an increase in "internal" S: 67 percent of companies have increased investment in employee welfare.

At the end of the event, a warning was issued by Francesco Ferrara, Corporate Responsibility Leader at PwC: "It seems to me that there is still little awareness of the new European directives that are about to come into force and that will have a huge impact on Italian companies. An overall design that will strongly push companies to change, not in the distant future, but in the next 3 years. The first directive to come into force will oblige companies to provide information in a uniform and verifiable way, to report more than 1300 mandatory KPIs, including social ones, in a regular and verified way, to which sector-specific directives will be added. The European design is truly transformative and will affect all listed companies from 2024, and from 2025 all unlisted companies as well."

SDA Bocconi School of Management