ADVOCACY: Keeping sight of a just transition towards a more sustainable economy

The historical moment we are witnessing poses challenges to individuals, businesses and society as a whole, but it also offers a chance to strengthen our values and focus on priorities.

We need to keep sight of the long-term direction, working for a just transition towards a more sustainable economy, fighting poverty and fostering development, opening access to resources to those who lack it (around 600 million people still don’t have access to electricity in Africa alone).

We have to focus on and invest in our people and their competencies to create shared value and innovate, with integrity, commitment and determination. Now more than ever, we should support the education and the professional development of the new generations.

Solid values are the pillars of such a transformation: inclusiveness and the respect of one another, the valorisation of diversity, altruism and generosity are key to deliver on a shared long-term vision.

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals perfectly codify these elements and offer a clear roadmap for the next 10 years.

Eni has embraced them in its corporate mission, convinced that a company will overcome the current difficulties and will be successful in the long run only if it is able to help provide solutions to these challenges.

That is why over the past six years we have adopted a new business model, launched a new mission, announced a long-term business strategy and a new organisation of our businesses that will lead us to drastically cut our emissions by 2050. Our investments worldwide promote projects in education and health, improve access to energy and drinking water and support the development of more sustainable energy sources. Our supercomputer, HPC5 – one of the world’s most powerful – is speeding up research in new energies, and is now helping to model the effectiveness of drugs on COVID-19 as part of a European project.

Our efforts, just as those of any actor in today’s complex scenario, will be much more valuable if we are able to work together – business, governments, international organisations, research centres and civil society.

Now more than ever, we need to adopt a shared, long-term perspective, confident that by joining forces and embracing shared values we can build a brighter future. We have the opportunity to build a new world, improving people’s quality of life by fostering inclusiveness, education and social integration.