"Smart and Sustainable": according to Francesco Morace, Sociologist and Founder of Concept Lab these are the two core values discussed in the new round of BG4SDGs Talks - the series of events organized by the Bank led by CEO Gian Maria Mossa that shines the spotlight on sustainability and innovation - that a company today cannot ignore.
Starting with a common value and then forming a system of values that crosses today's digital transformation: for Morace, sustainability is a chess game "in which the pawns-we citizens-play a fundamental role alongside institutions, governments and companies. Indeed, it is the latter that are the real players in a chessboard in turmoil among the many crises that agitate our time."
Businesses therefore play a crucial role for progress within a context in which the definition of virtuous processes takes on social connotations with large-scale impacts that benefit the entire community. This makes it necessary to measure the effects on the environment and society, a crucial factor in following the path already well outlined by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.
"Only thirty years ago, sustainability overlapped with militant environmentalism and pointed to a niche of advocates advocating overcoming a growth pattern that in the fifty years since has proven to be unsustainable. Despite numerous declarations of intent and proclamations over the decades, the hoped-for results have not been achieved, and climate change-related effects continue to manifest themselves with exponential growth. Yet something is changing: in the last decade, the concept of sustainability has experienced an acceleration in the dimension of civic values that not even the most optimistic of observers could have imagined," Morace comments.
In recent years, environmental and social issues have made a remarkable leap, leaving their original niche to become a topic of general interest. As a result, there has been an increased awareness regarding these issues, and recognizing attempts at greenwashing has become increasingly easy.
"This shift has been driven by a growing collective awareness of environmental protection and sustainability. People are increasingly aware of the impact of human activities on the global ecosystem and have begun to demand concrete and transparent actions from companies. It is no longer enough to simply promote products or services with green claims, but it is essential to demonstrate commitment and efforts toward sustainability with concrete facts. The phenomenon of greenwashing, or the practice of presenting oneself as "green" and environmentally friendly without having solid policies or actions to back up such claims, has come under increasing scrutiny. Companies must concretely demonstrate their commitment through transparent models and measurements."
Francesco Morace, Sociologo e Fondatore di Future Concept Labs
People are increasingly aware of the impact of human activities on the global ecosystem and have begun to demand concrete and transparent actions from companies. It is no longer enough to simply promote products or services with green claims, but it is essential to demonstrate commitment and efforts toward sustainability with concrete facts.
