Support the SMEs in the production of relevant information to impacts ESG (environmental, social and governance) to facilitate dialogue with banks on sustainability issues. This is the objective of the document drawn up by “Table for Sustainable Finance”promoted by Ministry of Economy and Financeto promote coordination between institutions and the country’s economic system in order to develop and implement sustainable finance strategies and thus mobilize private resources through the capital market to serve the green and digital transition of the real economy.
The document
In public consultation from today until August 2, 2024 on the Treasury Department website, the document consists of a reference model for standardization of the “Sustainability information from SMEs to banks” and a detailed one methodological guide.
To achieve the European Union’s sustainable development and climate neutrality objectives by 2050, a significant I commit by the financial system and of businessesincluding SMEs, who will gradually be asked by the market (banks, investors and large companies) to provide the ESG information of their activities.
The document was developed also benefiting from the discussions held with the Italian Accounting Body, various stakeholders, and the support of consultants appointed as part of the Technical Support Instrument program financed by the European Commission.
The Roundtable for Sustainable Finance
Over the last few years the attention towards climate change and, more generally, towards environmental and social issues has grown significantly in Europe and around the world, followed by an increasingly urgent need for effective and shared responses. Taking into account the objectives of European Green Deal and the ongoing initiatives within the G20 and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, at the end of 2022 the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) promoted the establishment of a “Coordination table on sustainable finance”, which involves the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Safety, the Bank of Italy, the National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange (CONSOB), the Institute for the Supervision of Insurance (IVASS) and the Supervision Commission on Pension Funds (COVIP).
The initiative aims to encourage the mobilization of private resources, through the capital market, to support the ecological transition in Italy, within the framework of commitments at European and international level. Through the coordination and exchange of views between supervisory authorities, the sharing of good practices, the carrying out of analyzes and insights, the Table aims, in particular, to offer concrete solutions to remove obstacles to private investments in sustainability. The Table also aims to be a forum for meetings and open dialogue with the various stakeholders, understood as trade associations, market operators and the private sector.
The priorities
The Table has identified, in 2023, how priority issues relating to: the identification and availability of data relating to climatic and natural risks, through mapping and overcoming the fragmentation of local and national, private and public databases already present; there sustainability reporting prepared by unlisted small and medium-sized enterprises (including financial education on sustainability); there insurance protection for environmental and climate risks. On the basis of these priorities, four working groups have been organized in which various stakeholders participate.
