Over the past few years, attention to climate change and, more generally, to environmental and social issues has grown considerably in Europe and worldwide, followed by an increasingly urgent need for effective and shared responses.

Taking into account the objectives of the European Green Deal and the initiatives underway within the G20 and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, at the end of 2022 the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoF) promoted the establishment of a “Sustainable Finance Platform”, involving the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, the Bank of Italy, the National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange (CONSOB), the Institute for Insurance Supervision (IVASS) and the Commission for the Supervision of Pension Funds (COVIP).

The initiative aims at fostering the mobilisation of private finance, through capital market, to support the sustainable transition in Italy, within the framework of European and international commitments. By coordinating and exchanging views among supervisory authorities, sharing best practices, and carrying out analyses and in-depth studies, the Platform aims, in particular, to offer concrete solutions to promote and ease to private investment in sustainable projects. The Platform also aims to be a forum for interaction and open dialogue with the various stakeholders (public and private ones).

For 2023, the Platform has identified the following issues as priorities:

• The identification and availability of data on climate and natural hazards, through mapping and overcoming the fragmentation of existing local and national, private and public databases;
• The sustainability reporting prepared by unlisted small and medium-sized enterprises (including financial education on sustainability);
• Insurance protection for environmental and climate risks.

Working groups were organised on the ground of these priorities, for which the participation of various stakeholders is also planned.