The Esg Abruzzo laboratory of Intesa Sanpaolo is born in Chieti in collaboration with the University of L’Aquila and the Chieti Pescara chamber of commerce. The initiative was presented on Wednesday at the Group’s Chieti Scalo headquarters: the objective is to support businesses in the environmental, social and governance transition processes in line with the objectives of the Pnrr, the national recovery and resilience plan.
In this regard, the laboratories aim to maximize the involvement of companies’ human capital and also promote collaboration with innovative startups and digital transformation and are an important territorial reference point for SMEs that aspire to improve their sustainability profile. Similar initiatives have been activated by Intesa Sanpaolo in Turin, Brescia, Padua, Venice, Cuneo, Bergamo, Bari, Taranto, Naples, Palermo, Rome, Florence and Macerata.
The new tool for the development of regional businesses of all sizes was presented by Edoardo Alesse, rector of the University of L’Aquila, Roberto Gabrielli, regional director of Lazio and Abruzzo Intesa Sanpaolo and Gennaro Strever, president of the Chieti Pescara chamber of commerce .
“The launch of the ESG Abruzzo laboratory – began Gabrielli of Intesa Sanpaolo – is strategic to provide support to SMEs in the region to achieve the sustainability objectives essential for the development of their business, thanks to targeted consultancy and comparison with system best practices Competitiveness, internationalisation, environmental, social and governance sustainability are increasingly closely related and in the near future they will also have an impact on the rating”.
For the rector Edoardo Alesse “this is a very important collaborative project that brings together three actors with complementary skills, with a strong territorial rooting and the habit of dialogue in a constructive way. The laboratory that is intended to be set up will be at the service and support of the small and medium-sized enterprises, which have greater difficulties in growth and development, but also than anyone else who needs it to face the challenge of sustainable development”.
“We are happy to be able to make all our know-how available to companies in this experience which I hope can represent an example for the territory” were the words of Gennaro Strever during his speech.
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According to the Intesa Sanpaolo Studies and Research Department, Abruzzo companies have a good sensitivity towards ESG issues, 79% have undertaken at least one environmental sustainability, social responsibility or environmental safety action. Among the other strengths of the Abruzzo economy, Intesa cites its good industrial vocation: in 2022 the industry generated 27.5% of the regional added value (26.4% in Italy, the value for the South is even lower: 19.6%); the propensity to export which is equal to 28.5% and higher in comparison with the other southern regions (17%); the competitiveness of some sectors on international markets, primarily the automotive sector, whose exports between 2008 and 2023 went from 2.9 to 3.7 billion euros, thanks to the focus on certain segments (motorcycles, company vehicles). The pharmaceutical sector also performed very well, which saw a 300% increase in exports in the period 2008-2023, going from 300 million euros to 1.2 billion, but also the food sector (+135%, from 250 million to 593).
Intesa Sanpaolo has already made available a ceiling of 8 billion for the circular economy and 76 billion for companies that invest in renewables. Through an innovative S-Loan CER financing line, the bank rewards with a rate discount those companies that not only invest in renewables, but also undertake to make unconsumed energy available to the community.
