Throughout the appraisal phase, CDP is dedicated to assigning an ex-ante sustainability and impact score to each operation, with the objective of prioritising projects that demonstrate sustainability and can deliver concrete benefits across critical aspects of sustainable well-being.

The score is calculated using the Sustainable Development Assessment (SDA) model, which incorporates well-established international frameworks. This model provides a summary score ranging from 0 to 10, with the highest rating awarded to operations that generate the most significant economic, social and environmental impact.

In detail, the SDA model considers several elements, including:

• the assessment of the additionality of the transaction to bridging the investment gaps in sectors and local territories where market operators are unable to mobilise adequate resources;
• the coherence of the transaction with CDP Strategic Plan, which aims to steer the Group's efforts towards promoting sustainable growth;
• the assessment of the ESG approach of counterparties involved, including an analysis of their sustainability strategies and goals, ESG governance, quality of sustainability reporting and their capabilities in managing disputes; 
• The assessment of the potential degree of counterparts in terms of growth, innovation and international expansion;
• the contribution to Sustainable Development Goals and the development of disadvantaged areas;
• the environmental, social and economic impact of the operation, including job creation and quality and the decrease in pollutant emissions.

For more complex and strategic projects, the assessment also involves specialised analysis of technical and economic aspects, considering factors such as design, technical expertise of the counterparts and the technical architecture of the proposed interventions.

Monitoring involves establishing a system for collecting data and information to remodel the features of financing and investments activities. This activity offers stakeholders visibility into what CDP has financed, the characteristics of the counterparties and the areas where investments are directed.

Specifically, the Sectoral Strategic Guidelines clearly define the strategic priorities guiding CDP's actions to ensure they complement and supplement the market, as well as specific physical outcome indicators for project monitoring. Physical outcome indicators gauge the actual achievements that the investment aims to accomplish, representing the ultimate goals of the project. The monitoring phase enables the concrete verification of the expected results and the outcomes actually achieved by the funded projects. For instance, if CDP has provided funding for the construction of a cycle path, the physical outcome indicator would be the number of kilometers of cycle path that the counterpart will build and this is monitored throughout the project.

Based on these indicators, CDP can determine whether projects are effectively bridging gaps in the area or encountering potential challenges in their execution.

The "risk-return-impact" model utilised by CDP concludes with ex post evaluation, which is the final step in measuring the impact generated by a project.

The evaluation is carried out on both clusters of homogeneous projects and on CDP's overall activity and it is divided into two phases:

• to quantify the volume of financial resources committed by CDP that are considered “additional” (i.e. which would not have entered the economy without CDP’s intervention) and capable of supporting aggregate national demand
• estimate of the impact actually generated in the economic system by these resources.

Impact assessment calculation includes economic measures such as GDP generated, social measures such as the number of jobs created and retained and climate finance measures such as CO2 reduction.

Additionally, for clusters of similar projects attributable to the same area, CDP assesses impact in alignment with the goals established by CDP's Sectoral Strategic Guidelines. This activity aims to enhance the strategy and maximise the impacts of CDP.

In the dedicated section, you'll find the in depth results of the Monitoring and Impact Assessment.