In Glasgow, COP26 discusses how to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, in Italy – however – sustainability “is still a mirage”, and companies are far from adopting “policies that are truly sustainable and capable of to influence the environment and the well-being of the community ».
This was revealed by the research “Sustainability at the bar”, a report produced by ConsumerLab – a study center specialized in sustainability – and dedicated to analyzing the progress of the sustainable transformation of companies and the influences that guide consumption.
The study shows that in Italy only 1.76% of small businesses with more than 20 employees publish a Sustainability Report, a percentage that drops to 0.63% for companies with less than 10 employees. Analyzing the big realities, it turns out that only 28.2% of the 1,915 main Italian companies present a balance sheet: of these, the first 345 banks operating in Italy stop at 18.2%; of the 76 insurance companies, 27.6% present it. All this despite almost one in five advertising widespread in our country (19% of the total) insert the word sustainability in messages addressed to the public: of these almost half (46%) refers to the theme of environmental sustainability.
“The word Sustainability is on everyone’s lips but few really know what it consists of – says the president of ConsumerLab, Francesco Tamburella – Companies try to dress in every way of Sustainability as if it were a new quality certification, but from the examination of their activities it is evident that the true meaning of this concept is rarely centered. The communication made to citizens / consumers is so misleading and deceptive, because it has no concrete and proven response in reality “.
It is therefore not surprising that the majority of Italian citizens are skeptical about the real commitment of companies for sustainable transformation: about two thirds of the sample interviewed by Consumerlab do not consider the communication of companies and the relationship they have with customer service to be sincere and transparent, and would like a greater commitment to sustainability on the part of companies.
“Consumer citizens feel a growing need to have transparent and timely information, beyond quality and price, on the ability of each company to create value over time, not only for itself – analyzes Tamburella – All companies, from large to small , must unanimously conform to the need for sustainable development, organizing the involvement of stakeholders and consumers in the lead, taking advantage of the opportunity offered by the NRP which, with the 190 billion destined for ecological transformation, the fight against climate change and development of sustainable mobility, can represent a shock for sustainable transformation in our country ».