CET 9.27 Rome, 18 October 2021. Atlantia is willing to be and is recognised as one of the Italian listed companies most focused on environmental and social sustainability and on the efficiency and transparency of its governance. Proof is provided by the Company’s inclusion in the MIB ESG Index, the first blue-chip index in Italy to feature leading public companies with a strong ESG track record.
This major recognition is further confirmation of how, as part of Atlantia’s renewal process, sustainability and innovation have a key role to play generating value in the companies in which the holding company invests as a long-term shareholder, with the aim of creating shared value for all stakeholders.
Admission to the index follows confirmation of Atlantia’s inclusion in the FTSE4Good Index Series, which ranks leading global companies based on their ESG practices and transparency, and significant upgrades of the Company’s ESG ratings by leading international agencies such as MSCI, Vigeo-Eiris (a part of Moody’s ESG Solutions) and GRESB, an agency that specialises in the assessment of infrastructure businesses.
“We are following an ambitious roadmap that aims to integrate the best ESG practices into every link in the value chain, based on a pragmatic approach that gives weight to environmental, social and governance factors. I like to refer to it as Net Positive, as it is based on concrete actions designed to mitigate risk and add value,” said Katia Riva, Atlantia’s Chief Sustainability Officer. According to Riva, “an example of the consistency and effectiveness of our approach to environmental issues is the recent accreditation of our 5 airport operators – out of only 8 around the world – with a decarbonization plan that will see them become carbon neutral by 2030. Just last Friday,” continued Riva, “I took off from Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci airport on one of the first Italian flights to use sustainable fuel, which cuts CO2 emissions. Another example, in the social sphere, regards the launch of a unique initiative that permits our employees to take 10 days’ leave on full pay to volunteer for non-profit organisations. We hope that this will return significant net value to the community and that our initiative will attract the interest of other corporations,” added Atlantia’s CSO.
In terms of good governance, the Company has recently introduced new stakeholder engagement and responsible investment policies.
“We are convinced that the effective involvement of shareholders, investors and other stakeholders helps to improve long-term financial and non-financial performance in a way that is sustainable for everyone. In addition, we intend to strengthen our investment strategy by assuming an active role in implementing sustainable finance principles, with the aim of steering the flow of capital towards assets that meet our ESG commitments,” concluded Katia Riva.