Gardini, cooperatives invest 2.2 billion in sustainability but there is heavy bureaucracy

As energy prices rise again, cooperatives do not back down on sustainability.

Last year, Confcooperative member companies invested 2.2 billion euros, 8.9% more than the previous year, in energy efficiency, reduction of environmental impact, digitalisation and training.

The data, processed by the Confcooperative Study Center, emerges from the VI Confcooperative Sustainability Day, where the upper classes of six regions (Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Tuscany and Trentino Alto Adige) and the Youth Group presented their projects in dialogue with the president Maurizio Gardini and with Nicola Gratteri, prosecutor of the Republic of Naples and during which 17 cooperatives were awarded which, he explains, "they put people at the center of development".

«They are not costs, but investments that strengthen the competitiveness of our companies that combine environmental, social and economic sustainability. Over 90% of our cooperatives have chosen to focus on energy saving, low impact materials and training. Demonstrating - says Maurizio Gardini - that doing a responsible business means doing a winning business. And we reward 17 who have particularly distinguished themselves."

«But bureaucracy still represents a cost that is too high: almost 500 million euros. A real ballast. It's like putting on the handbrake while accelerating into the future. This is why 1 cooperative out of 2 - concludes Gardini - asks for more streamlined rules.

Because investing in sustainability today means building the competitiveness of tomorrow."

According to the organisation, "it makes no sense to chase GDP growth if BES, Fair and Sustainable Wellbeing, continues to deteriorate. Without people and territories there is no sustainable economy". The recipe, according to Confcooperative, is "more support for investments, self-production from renewables, energy communities and tools against energy risk.

A concrete alternative, not an abstract aspiration."