In Italy, the green economy knows no crisis. On the contrary, it grows day by day. And “green” businesses earn more, export more and hire more than others.
A veritable mine of job opportunities, growth prospects and technological innovation. The green economy is all this and much more. And it is a sector in which Italy is demonstrating its excellence to the world. This is shown by the data from GreenItaly 2016, the seventh report by Fondazione Symbola and Unioncamere, promoted in collaboration with Conai and under the patronage of the ministero dell'Ambiente.
26.5 per cent of Italian businesses in industry and services with employees have invested in green products or technologies between 2010 and 2015, or plan to do so by the end of this year. In total, we are talking about more than 385,000 businesses that have chosen to do something to reduce their environmental impact, save energy and curb CO2 emissions. Those in the manufacturing sector are more active than average: they account for 33 per cent of the total.
Ermete Realacci, president of Fondazione Symbola, and Unioncamere president Ivan Lo Bello write in the introduction to the report:
These businesses tell us what place we can occupy in the world: not that of competitiveness based on low prices and environmental and social dumping, but precisely that of quality, which is in the DNA of the Italian production system and is made up of personalisation and attention to detail, focus on skills and human capital, cohesion, beauty, innovation and, indeed, sustainability.
Working towards energy efficiency, environmental protection and smart, low-impact solutions means setting aside production methods that are now obsolete, in order to venture down unexplored paths. It is no coincidence that in 2015, 22.2 per cent of Green Italy businesses developed new products and services, compared with 11.4 per cent of all other businesses. In terms of digitalisation, the comparison is stark: 82 per cent of green businesses have launched a website or social media channels, have digitalised processes and are seeking new digital skills, against 53 per cent of all other businesses.
The results reward these choices. 18.7 per cent of Italy's green economy businesses export abroad, while the overall average is 10.9 per cent. And between 2014 and 2015, 25.9 per cent of them saw their turnover increase, compared with 16.8 per cent of all other businesses.
The green economy is not the preserve of just a few regions, but is now an established reality across the entire country. The standout region is Lombardy, which is home to almost one fifth of Italian businesses investing in the environment (more than 69,000; in Milan alone, 22,590 are counted). It is followed, at some distance, by Veneto (more than 37,000 green businesses), Lazio (more than 33,600, with more than one in seven based in Rome) and Emilia-Romagna, which counts just over 33,000.
In an Italy where almost one in three young people aged between 20 and 24 falls into the category of so-called Neet (young people who are neither in education nor employment), it is essential to ask which are the most promising sources of employment. And, once again, the answer is one: environmental sustainability. To date, Italian green businesses guarantee 2,964,000 jobs, equal to 13.2 per cent of total national employment, and 53.4 per cent of these are permanent contracts. The contribution of green jobs to Italian GDP is estimated for 2015 at 190.5 billion euros, that is to say 13 per cent of the total.
And it does not end there: this year the "green" economy will guarantee a further 249,000 hires, between green jobs in the strict sense and hybrid roles with green skills. This represents 44.5 per cent of demand for non-occasional employment, a percentage that rises to 66 per cent in the research and development sector. Yet further proof of the fact that innovation and environmental responsibility go hand in hand.