The Group ranks second among unlisted companies
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti earned a high ranking in the ESG Identity Corporate Index, the indicator that evaluates the companies most attentive to environmental, social and governance issues.
Promoted by the ET.Group and this year in its ninth edition, the index analyses various aspects of a company's operations to recognise and assess its commitment to adopting the principles of environmental and social responsibility, sustainability and good governance in its organisation: for example, the presence or absence of a committee dedicated to governance, the existence of a remuneration policy linked to ESG parameters or the level of diversity in the board.
The questionnaire was distributed to a total of around 300 companies, including Italy’s top 100 listed and top 50 unlisted corporations, as well as those that published a non-financial statement (Consob basket), the document that reports on commitments and achievements in the ESG sphere.
In this most recent edition CDP ranked second among unlisted companies, up two places from 2023.
In the overall ranking, which includes all the companies in the sample that responded to the questionnaire, CDP finished 16th, earning recognition as an “ESG Identity Leader”. An accolade that testifies to the Group's ability to undertake a process of transformation and evolution in terms of ESG.
This milestone reflects the Group's ongoing commitment to sustainability, further reinforced with the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan. Over the past two years 12 ESG policies and a new financing evaluation model that takes into account economic, social and environmental impacts have been introduced. Moreover, CDP has committed to reducing the carbon footprint (tCO2eq/million euros) of its portfolio by 30% by 2030, and by the end of 2023 it had already achieved a decrease of about 7% in carbon intensity compared to 2022. This commitment is also evident in governance issues, which are increasingly geared towards the pursuit of sustainable development and the creation of long-term value consistent with an approach based on maximum transparency and accountability to shareholders and stakeholders.
In fact the centrality of the principle of sustainable development is made explicit in the Articles of Association, which establish that CDP's operations must pursue long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability to the benefit of shareholders and taking into account the interests of other relevant stakeholders, these efforts being reflected in the incentive system, with ESG objectives accounting for more than 30% of senior management’s total objectives. The process of integrating ESG factors into governance is confirmed by the presence of a Risk and Sustainability Committee, which is assigned specific ESG-related responsibilities and supports the Board of Directors on strategy, policy and reporting matters.
Moreover, at the level of transparency constant opportunities for dialogue and stakeholder engagement were introduced. The main initiatives included a series of consultations with more than 400 representatives of civil society and the establishment of the annual Multistakeholder Forum, offering a chance to listen and talk to some 750 stakeholders in person and more than 7,000 online in two editions. In 2023 CDP also launched the ESG Community, the first network in the sector consisting of the country's leading economic entities, and promoted the ESG Master for Group employees in collaboration with the University of Bologna Business School.
Lastly, the Group’s strong focus on people and the issues of Diversity, Fairness and Inclusion in governance choices and in the integration of these principles into the corporate culture is demonstrated by its having earned UNI PdR 125:2022 Gender Equality Certification and the certificate of compliance with the ISO 30415 international standard on Diversity and Inclusion.