Promoting sustainability in Italy

Promoting sustainability in Italy (https://www.mase.gov.it/pagina/promoting-sustainability-italy)

Since many years the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security is engaged in initiatives aimed at promoting and disseminating models of sustainable production and consumption, in line with the actions envisaged by the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030 at a global level, with the “Fit for 55” package at European Union level and with the “Plan for the Ecological Transition” and the “New Strategy for the Circular Economy” at national level.

The goal is to guide the country towards a low-carbon economy in which are guaranteed, at the same time, the protection and enhancement of the territory and of the communities and the rational management, sustainable and circular use of resources. The concept of sustainability, which integrates the economic, environmental, social and cultural dimensions, the possibility of measuring and improving it through multi-criteria indicators, the accessibility to information concerning the commitments undertaken by companies and the results achieved are all elements that are increasingly rooted in the economic system and in the territorial management, representing an added value for businesses, consumers, administrations and citizens.

Over the recent years many Italian companies and industries understood and implemented the principles of sustainability, becoming a reference model in the sustainable industrial policies of their sector and a driving example for many small and medium-sized companies. More efficient production processes and better environmental management systems can make it possible bringing a double benefit: reducing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, waste production and resource consumption and cutting production costs and dependence on raw materials. They are also a competitive advantage in markets where the demand for highly environmentally qualified products is growing.

It is therefore of fundamental importance to promote as much as possible the dissemination of voluntary certification among companies because, also thanks to the mechanisms of competition and emulation, it makes it possible to stimulate the improvement of system performance.

Companies adhering to the Ministry's programs carry out an analysis of their sustainability performance identifying, through the use of indicators, the possibilities for improvement. The same companies conclude this process with the certification of the calculations by an independent third party organization, in order to be able to communicate the final results and ensure maximum transparency of the entire process. In fact the growing attention paid by the market to low environmental impact products has contributed in recent years to the spread of practices that are part of the so-called greenwashing, rather than in a real and concrete action to reduce the impact of products and processes.

The Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security ensures rigor, uniformity and transparency of the contents of the communication activities within the sustainability programs through internationally recognized standardized procedures.