Accelerating the energy transition, immediately implementing policies to stimulate innovation and investments, would allow Italy to build a future of sustainable development, with systemic positive effects on the environment, society and the economy: employment would in fact increase and GDP (+2.2% in 2050) and public debt would be significantly reduced. A late transition, undertaken after 2030, would instead weigh on the production and financial systems, increasing inequalities. Inaction would lead to catastrophe: in 2050 temperatures in Italy would increase by more than 3°C and GDP would collapse by 30%.
This is what emerges from the “Spring Report” of the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS), presented today during the opening event of the eighth edition of the Sustainable Development Festival, titled Looking to the future to change the present: businesses and finance facing the challenge of sustainabilityThe event saw an in-depth discussion between representatives of institutions, the economic world and civil society, including the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratinrepresentatives of business associations, multinational companies and SMEs, as well as the Presidents of ASviS, Marcella Mallen And Pierluigi Stefanini and to the scientific director of ASviS, Enrico Giovannini.
“We have chosen to open the Sustainable Development Festival in the spaces that once belonged to Olivetti, a historic company symbol of Italian industrial culture, and to present on the occasion a Report dedicated to the future, to stimulate a generative reflection that urges the productive world to act with determination, together with institutions and civil society, to seize the great opportunities arising from an acceleration of the ecological and digital transition – he has declared there President of ASviS, Marcella Mallen. – Olivetti was a cutting-edge company for its vision of innovation, not only technical and industrial, but also social and cultural, for its attention to corporate welfare and the well-being of people and communities. However, its story is also emblematic of a missed opportunity, marked by the exit from the computer business, of which the Ivrea company was among the world leaders. Those companies that believe the ecological transition is just a cost or a fad, rather than an extraordinary opportunity to make a leap towards sustainable development, generating benefits for the economy, society and the environment, risk making a similar mistake today”.
The report “Scenarios for Italy in 2030 and 2050. The choices to be made now for sustainable development” illustrates the legislative initiatives taken by the Government and Parliament in the last 18 months concerning the different dimensions of the 2030 Agenda, analyses the state of implementation of the various national plans to achieve sustainable development in the country starting from energy-climate and adaptation to climate change, he puts comparing the programs of the political forces in view of the European elections and contains an unprecedented analysis carried out by ASviS with Oxford Economics on future scenarios for Italy in 2030 and 2050. In particular, four scenarios for the country’s future are evaluated, from the most desirable one of “Net Zero Transformation“, to the unsatisfactory ones of the “business as usual” and of the late transition, up to the catastrophic one resulting from inaction.
“The analysis clearly indicates that Italy must seize the energy transition as an opportunity to innovate across the board. Those who want to postpone the transition in the name of the costs to be incurred in the coming years to carry it out later are actually aiming to pass the damage of inaction onto the weakest and future generations – he has declaredthe scientific director of ASviS, Enrico Giovannini. – Today, national policies on energy, climate, social and institutional matters appear uncertain and contradictory, despite the international commitments undertaken in September 2023 on the occasion of the UN Summit on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, in December 2023 on the occasion of COP28 and during the recent G7-environment Italian presidency. The ASviS proposals, if implemented by the Government, would allow Italy to increase income and competitiveness, reduce poverty and inequalities, improve the quality of the environment, involve the new generations in the political life of the country. The European elections must be an opportunity to strengthen common policies in favor of sustainable development and implement those institutional reforms that make the European Union a stronger and more cohesive entity, capable of facing current and future crises”.
In addition to the presentation of the ASviS Report and the various debate sessions, the opening event of the Festival, with over five hundred participants in attendance, hosted Marco Peroni’s monologue “Olivetti: an Italian story”proposed a live debate among high school youthIs corporate sustainability worthwhile?” and presented some of the good practices of SMEs – including those of More, OSAI, PLINK and Weglad – collected in the new section of the ASviS website “Sustainability in (good) practice”. The meeting was closed by a performance by the harpist Kety Fuscofirst stage of theHeroes Festivalan event born from the collaboration between ASviS and Music Innovation Hub, which includes a series of concerts in the six cities where the main events of the Festival take place.
“The richness of this day’s debate, together with the extraordinary mobilization that the Festival of Sustainable Development manages to catalyze more and more every year, reveals the validity of the work that ASviS has started since 2016 to help move the political and cultural debate into Italy from the short to the long-term, from a sectoral approach to a systemic approach, from ex-post evaluations to ex-ante programming – he claims the President of ASviS, Pierluigi Stefanini – We open the 2024 Festival of Sustainable Development by bringing to representatives of institutions and businesses, together with civil society, a series of stimuli based on the awareness that much more needs to be done to proceed on the path of sustainable development, to act in the present while respecting, as the Constitution also provides for the interest of future generations”.
During the event, moderated by Alessandra Ferrarodirector of RAI Isoradio, spoke: Barbara Cimmino (Managing Director Confimprese), Matteo Chiantore (Mayor of Ivrea), Paolo Conta (President of Confindustria Canavese)Mario Corti (Senior Partner KPMG), Maria Enrica Danese (Director of Corporate Communication & Sustainability TIM Group), Beniamino De’ Liguori Cute (Adriano Olivetti Foundation), Simone Gamberini (President of Legacoop), Marco Gay (President of Anitec Assinform), Matteo Giangrande (Italian National Debate Society), Enrico Giovannini (Scientific Director of ASviS), Danilo Gismondi (IT and Digital Director, Autostrade per l’Italia), Nicola Lanzetta (Director Italy, Enel), Marcella Mallen (President of ASviS), Sarah Parisio (Music Innovation Hub), Marco Pedroni (President of ANCC-COOP), Marco Peroni (writer and narrator), Gilberto Pichetto Fratin (Minister of the Environment and Energy Security), Enrica Sabatini (Camelot), Elena Shneiwer(Head of ESG Engagement and Artistic Heritage, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti), Michelangelo Suigo (External Relations, Communication & Sustainability Director of INWIT Spa), Pierluigi Stefanini (President of ASviS), Gianfranco Torriero (Deputy Deputy General Director of the ABI), Giuseppe Tripoli (General Secretary of UnionCamere) e Alberto Zambolin (Vice President of Fifth Amplification).
The opening event of the Sustainable Development Festival took place in collaboration with Confindustria Canavese and Il Quinto Ampliamento, with the patronage of the City of Ivrea and Confindustria Piemonte, with the contribution of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Crafts and Agriculture of Turin, and TIM.
The next stops of the Festival will be at the Book Fair in Turin, Bologna, Milan and Palermo, while Rome will host numerous events at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni throughout the entire event, from 7 to 23 May.
The event at Officina H, former headquarters of Olivetti, an emblematic place of Italian industrial culture, brought together institutions, businesses and civil society. Giovannini: “Implementing a rapid and incisive transition today would allow Italy to build a future of sustainable development, generating systemic benefits for the environment, economy and society”.
THE REPORT LINK
