Awareness ofenvironmental emergency, but the responsibility for acting should rest with businesses. The Italians say this, according to whom technologies can be the key to to reduce the pollution and respect the commitments made to protect the environment. The research “The challenges of digital sustainability”, carried out by Ipsos and commissioned by Maker Faire Rome e UniCredit. Research that took a sample of one thousand Italians of age, providing a snapshot of the way in which digitization is transforming our world and how this transformation can be best managed to achieve the objectives of the UN’s 2030 Agenda.
Between strategic technological evolutions to create a fair and sustainable society include: residential solar panels for the production of hot water (56%), thermal insulation of buildings (52%), use of recyclable materials for the production of technological devices (51%) and energy efficiency of household appliances (47%). Between medium value evolutions, to build a fair and sustainable society, the interviewees chose electric or plug-in vehicles (40%), devices for controlling household electricity consumption (35%) and car and bike sharing (32%).
According to the interviewees, it is important to reduce the environmental impact deriving from smart working (quite or very high for 95% of respondents) and byInternet of Things in reducing domestic electricity consumption (90%). Crucial in facing the challenges of the green revolution is also the role assigned toartificial intelligence (AI): according to 86% of Italians, AI has a fairly high or very high impact in reducing the use of resources. Percentage that drops to 84% in the development of the circular economy and to 79% in reducing the environmental impact of agriculture.
Overall, the survey indicates that for 90% of Italians, environmental disaster is inevitable if habits are not changed quickly. A percentage up compared to what was found in the 2013 survey (84%) and higher than that recorded in UK (83%), in France and in Germany (86%). Furthermore, for 72%, climate change is just as serious a crisis as the Covid-19 pandemic, a percentage higher than the world average of 71%.
However, compared to other countries where the emergency is less felt, Italians do not believe that the responsibility for taking actions aimed at combating climate change and protecting the environment falls on the individual: 54% of respondents believe that this role you are entitled to to industry and businesses and secondly to the government (47%), while only 35% believe there is one individual responsibility. These numbers are much lower than those reported by European neighbors and which place Italy in third last place in the ranking of the countries analyzed, ahead of only France and Japan.
In the first place, among the actions that according to the interviewees large companies should take to protect the environment, there is waste reduction and pollution (priority for 19% of respondents), followed by reducing the use of plastic, develop sustainable products and take care of the natural environment (considered priorities by 12% of respondents). The total percentage of people who count the reduction of plastic and the care of the natural environment among the most important issues for the protection of the environment is higher than the average (36% against a global average of 34% for plastic and 31 % for environmental protection) by large companies.
However, sustainability remains an issue that influences the choice of Italian consumers: according to 37% of respondents, the presence of products that do not harm the environment can change the image you have of a brand or company. However, the awareness that large companies are not doing enough to pay workers fairly (according to 25% of respondents, + 5% compared to 2019), to limit their impact on changes, is growing more than the previous revelation. (according to 23%, + 7% compared to 2019), limit their contribution to pollution (23%, + 9% on 2019) and to ensure transparency on where and how the products are used (for 23%, in increase of 5% compared to 2019).
Sustainability guides consumers’ choices especially for food. 64% consider themselves a sustainable consumer when it comes to food and grocery and are willing to pay more for more sustainable products (55%), believing that brands are not doing enough in terms of supporting sustainability and the best ethical practices. However, there is no lack of awareness that even the digital technologies they have an environmental impact: 34% of the interviewees believe they have a high environmental impact, compared to 56% who consider it “quite high”. In particular, according to 57% they affect the production of waste that is difficult to dispose of, for 49% on the use of energy – 86% of the sample judges that the impact of these technologies on energy demand is strong or quite strong, even if the streaming consumption is underestimated – 34% of the increase in air pollution and 31% of global warming.
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