The initiative, presented in the Intesa Sanpaolo skyscraper in Turin with the support of VISA, is inspired by a logic of system and service. With the Turin Chamber of Commerce will be promoted projects and issues of social impact, related to innovation and inclusion will be promoted; with the Turin Association of Accountants and Bookkeepers, actions to accompany SMEs. The ESG lab will also collaborate with trade associations, universities, graduate schools, research centers and ITS in the area.

Intesa Sanpaolo has already activated similar initiatives in Brescia, Padua, Venice, Cuneo, Bergamo, Bari, Taranto, Naples, Palermo and Rome. The idea was born in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, a Group company that explores future scenarios and trends, develops applied research projects, supports high-potential startups and accelerates the transformation of companies according to the criteria of open innovation and circular economy.

ESG workshops are an important territorial reference point for SMEs that aspire to improve their sustainability profile, and are part of the broader Intesa Sanpaolo Group's plan to support PNRR-related investments. The workshops aim to maximize the involvement of human capital of companies and also promote collaboration with innovative startups and digital transformation.

Environmental and social sustainability have a major impact on the growth and competitiveness of SMEs, which is why Intesa Sanpaolo has activated with the new Business Plan 2022-2025 an €8 billion plafond earmarked for investments in Circular Economy, and in 2020 has launched a €2 billion plafond for S-Loans, a line of innovative medium-to long-term financing that accompanies companies' efforts in the direction of greater sustainability, with a rate reduction mechanism linked to the achievement of ESG objectives. In particular, S-Loan Climate Change, Tourism and Agribusiness, with an 80 percent SACE Green guarantee, are initiatives designed for SMEs and MID-Caps that intend to invest to counter the effects of climate change and reduce their environmental impact through green investment projects. Since the launch of these initiatives, Intesa Sanpaolo's North Piedmont, Aosta Valley and Sardinia Directorate has disbursed about 400 million euros.

Lastly, the Group has made available significant resources, amounting to 76 billion euros, linked to commitments already made under the PNRR, to support companies that invest in renewables. Through an innovative S-Loan CER financing line, the Bank rewards with a rate discount those companies that not only invest in renewables, but also commit to making unconsumed energy available to the community. In addition, customers can access advisory and consulting services, delivered with the support of technical partners, to fine-tune the best investment and to establish new CERs (Renewable Energy Communities), while also benefiting from information and outreach activities with institutional partners.

In an economic and social framework in which attention to the environment and the transition to a digitized and green economy are crucial for the manufacturing system, the ESG Lab stands as an accelerator for the sustainable growth of SMEs and for the creation of collective social and environmental value in the logic of the widest involvement of businesses and operators aimed at the realization of the PNRR. The goal is to foster and support investments and growth opportunities that can no longer be postponed in the current phase of the revival of the Italian economy, combining needs of SMEs with the expertise of the best stakeholders.

The ESG Lab in Turin, in particular, will offer advice, information, assesment and identification of actions to support the entire path SMEs need to take, thanks to partner of excellence such as:

• Circularity, the first industrial symbiosis platform dedicated to the circular economy in Italy that can support companies to integrate sustainability and circular economy principles within their business;
• Nativa, the first B Corp and Benefit Company in Europe that incorporates purpose into the DNA of organizations to improve their business results and create lasting, shared prosperity;
• CE LAB, born from the partnership between Innovation Center Intesa Sanpaolo and Cariplo Factory to contribute to the evolution of the Italian economic system and spread new models of value creation in the collective interest, accelerating the transition to circular economy models.

(Excerpt from Turin Chamber of Commerce press release)