Italgas confirms leadership in sustainability

The year 2023 confirms Italgas’ leadership position in sustainability rankings and ratings.

The results obtained arise also from the Group’s decision to increasingly integrate the Strategic Plan and the Sustainable Value Creation Plan in a path that sees a continually growing commitment to improving all aspects related to sustainability, from the fight against climate change to the generation of value for stakeholders and local communities.

Of note, in December 2023, confirmation in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe and Dow Jones Sustainability World and first place in the CSA Assessment among Gas Utilities.

Italgas’ strategy is strongly integrated with sustainability issues. In June 2023, the group presented its Strategic Plan 2023-2029, including the DSOs acquired in Greece and now integrated into DEDA in its targets.

Targets to reduce Scope 1&2 emissions by 42% and net energy consumption by 33% in the 2020-30 period, on a like-for-like basis, were confirmed with an expanded scope. In addition, the company confirmed, over the same period, its commitment to reduce Scope 3 supply chain emissions by 33% and its Net Zero target to 2050 (for both Scope 1&2 and Scope 3 emissions). At the same time, in the area of human resource management, the Group has committed by 2029 to increase individual training hours to 45 and to have 28 percent women in senior positions.

In addition, in December, the Sustainable Value Creation Plan 2023-2029, “Builders of the Future – the Journey Continues,” which sets concrete actions and ambitious goals for value creation for the Group’s stakeholders and the territories in which it operates, and the second TCFD report “2022-2023 Driving innovation for energy transition,” which explores the relationship between Italgas Group’s business and the impacts associated with climate change in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), were published.

Main 2023 results

In February 2023, based on the results of the CSA 2022 assessment, Italgas was confirmed as one of the 712 companies included in the Sustainability Yearbook 2023 and ranking among the 67 global companies that received Top 1% S&P Global ESG Score distinction for ranking at the top of the Gas sector.

In April 2023 MSCI ESG Ratings confirmed the AA rating in its annual assessment. Italgas also confirmed the top score in the Environment section. The MSCI rating supports inclusion in the MSCI GlobalSustainability indices.

On October 18, 2021, Italgas stock was included in the MIB ESG Index, the first blue-chip index for Italy dedicated to best environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices by Borsa Italiana, part of the Euronext Group. The MIB ESG Index, made operational by Euronext in collaboration with Vigeo Eiris (V.E., part of Moody’s ESG Solutions), includes the most important Italian listed issuers that show the most effective behaviors within the three main parameters of corporate social responsibility. This inclusion has been reconfirmed throughout 2023, most recently in September.

In July 2023, Italgas stock was confirmed for the seventh consecutive year among the members of the FTSE4Good Index Series, which groups together globally the best companies capable of distinguishing themselves for their focus on sustainable economic development. The review determined a sustainable performance rating for Italgas of 4.3 points (out of a maximum of 5), an improvement over the previous score of 4.2, placing Italgas above the average of Italian companies̀ and above the average for its sector internationally.

In August 2023, Sustainalytics confirmed Italgas’ low risk rating. Italgas received an ESG Risk Rating of 16.9 and it was assessed to be at Low Risk of experiencing material financial impacts from ESG factors. The latter is in line with the result achieved in 2021 and 2022.

In September 2023, the rating agency ISS – Institutional Shareholder Services – confirmed the A- rating and Prime status for Italgas under the ISS ESG Corporate Rating. ISS conducted a thorough review of the group’s sustainability performance and commitments, assigning Italgas a score of 78.94 points. ISS’s analysis focuses on companies’ management of ESG issues based on several criteria, most of which are specific to their industry. The “Prime” rating confirms Italgas’ leading position in its sector in terms of sustainability performance.

In October 2023, GRESB confirmed the A rating for Italgas in the 2023 GRESB Public Disclosure Report for the quality of ESG disclosure. This recognition was reflected in the Company’s weighting in the rebalancing of the GRESB indices.

In October 2023 Moody’s ESG Solutions, recognized Italgas’ commitment to sustainability by confirming the “Advanced” rating and improving the score assigned by one point from the previous year. The performance was mainly determined by the actions implemented and the additional commitments made by the Group in the environmental, social and governance spheres.

In December 2023, Italgas ranked first, for the third year in a row, in the Gas Utilities Sector in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, with a score of 89 points out of 100 (score date 24/11/2022).

As a result of this achievement, the company was reconfirmed for the fifth consecutive year in the DJSI World and for the third year in the DJSI Index Europe. The two indices include European and global sustainability leaders selected annually by S&P Global based on their score in the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA).