Small businesses, great sustainability. Green data from Confartigianato

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There is an Italy that faces sustainability with its feet on the ground and its gaze turned to the future. It is the Italy of artisans and small businesses that, amid economic constraints and global challenges, does not give up doing its part in the ecological transition . On June 5 and 6, on the occasion of World Environment Day, representatives of the Confartigianato system met in Rome for the 3rd Sustainability Forum, reiterating a key concept: craftsmanship does not undergo change, it guides it.

“For us, sustainability is synonymous with competitiveness, it is an act of productive responsibility, not a regulatory imposition or an ideological trend,” declared Marco Granelli, president of Confartigianato, during his speech at the Forum. “The artisan knows the value of things: he knows that every material deserves respect, every object must last. Sustainability means caring, preserving, repairing, transmitting. It is a way to build the future by valorizing the past.”

A concrete and deep-rooted vision, that of Confartigianato, which starts from know-how and projects itself towards the new metrics of the green economy. And the numbers show how much small businesses invest in green. According to the elaborations of the Confartigianato Research Office on Istat data, 55.4 percent of small manufacturing businesses (10-49 employees) have implemented at least one action to improve environmental sustainability. A figure that belies the narrative according to which only large companies have the means to undertake the green transition. Among the most widespread actions are waste management (86.5 percent), environmental monitoring (62.4 percent), energy efficiency: (43.4 percent), the use of recycled materials (35 percent), the use of renewable sources (30.2 percent).

There is no shortage of structural interventions: 37.7 percent of small businesses have made investments in the sustainable management of energy and transport, favoring the installation of high-efficiency machinery (61.9 percent) and renewable energy systems (42 percent). However, the green transition is not free from obstacles. The high cost of credit, geopolitical uncertainties and the poor effectiveness of the Transition 5.0 plan are slowing down investments . According to the GSE, as of June 3, 2025, only 16.6 percent of the Plan's 6.2 billion available in tax credits has been used or reserved. "The monetary tightening has already reduced investments in machinery and systems by 3.8 billion in 2024", highlights Confartigianato.

In addition to investments, skills are needed. It is again Confartigianato that indicates that, according to Unioncamere-Ministry of Labor, 42.9 percent of the hirings planned for 2024 require aptitude for energy saving and reducing environmental impact. Specific skills on green products and technologies, although rarer, are considered strategic in 18.5 percent of the selections. A concrete step towards the conscious and responsible management of sustainability is the creation of ConfESG, the new system company of Confartigianato designed to support companies in the preparation of the sustainability report and in the adoption of ESG criteria . ConfESG has the ambition to transform regulatory obligations into competitive positioning tools, allowing small Italian companies not to adapt passively, but to write the sustainability agenda.

The connection with the territory is central to Confartigianato's vision. "Our companies live in the places they serve, they know their fragilities and potential - explained Granelli - The future does not belong to those who produce more, but to those who produce better: with quality, attention to the environment, continuous training". The message is clear: the daily sustainability of small Italian companies is already in place, founded on ancient values ​​but projected forward with awareness. Craftsmanship does not seek shortcuts, but methodically builds a "culture of doing" that aims to last, like its products.

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