MILAN (ITALPRESS) – In an increasingly fragmented global context, where sustainability priorities are defined locally, citizens and stakeholders count more and more where and how businesses generate value. This is what emerges from SEC Newgate’s Impact Monitor 2025, a global group of strategic communication, advocacy and research. The fifth edition of annual research – previously “ESG Monitor” – analyses the expectations and perception of communities with regard to the behaviour of enterprises and governments on ESG themes. The study involved more than 20,000 people (1.005 in Italy) in 20 countries and photographed a sensitivity in which the concept of ESG remains relevant, but is increasingly assessed through the lens of the local impact: work, investments, transparency and tangible benefits for communities. This year’s survey reveals a more critical Italy than the rest of the world. The expectations of global public opinion on the behaviour of enterprises and governments in the environmental, social and governance sectors remain high, but only 36% of Italians believe that the country is going in the right direction, against a global average of 48%. Economic concerns, cost of life, security and essential services push citizens and stakeholders to ask organizations to play a more active and responsible role.
Without prejudice to the fact that 72% of citizens believe that enterprises should act in the interest of all stakeholders (vs 76% of the overall figure), expectations for large companies remain very high: 53% of Italians attach a maximum importance (9-10 out of 10) to responsible behaviour, in line with the overall figure (54%). A similar percentage (54%) expresses the same opinion on the government, while expectations are lower for small and medium-sized enterprises (40%). In view of these expectations, judgment is insufficient. Less than one-fifth of Italians (18%) allocates large enterprises a high assessment (9-10 out of 10). Transparency and adherence to moral and ethical principles are the main critical points: 51% of Italians believe that large companies are doing too little to be open and transparent and to operate according to solid moral and ethical principles, compared to a global average of 42% and 36% respectively. Many also believe that in Italy companies do not pay the right share of taxes (46%), do not communicate the measures taken to improve their ESG performance (41%) and do not meet the needs of stakeholders (38%).
The topic of localization emerges as one of the elements of greater differentiation between Italy and the rest of the world. Most Italians believe that the country has too much dependence on global supply chains (for 49% of respondents) and too little local food production (41%) and manufacturing (50%), with higher dissatisfaction levels than the global average. About seven Italians out of ten prefer that companies produce (for 77% of respondents), hire (71%) and subsidize (65%) locally, although this entails higher costs for consumers: higher values of about 10% to global ones. Moreover, about eight Italians out of ten declare that they would have a more positive perception of a company that pays taxes in Italy (for 79% of the respondents), creates local jobs (70%), localizes production (82%) or supply (80%) and maintains the headquarters on the national territory (79%). These data confirm that, more than elsewhere, in Italy the corporate reputation is closely linked to the ability to generate tangible economic and social benefits at local level. The attention to environmental issues remains very high in Italy, often higher than the global average. 82% of Italians consider the transition to renewable energies very important and a similar percentage considers it essential to act decisively against climate change (while global values are 75% and 74% respectively). 63% of Italians look favourably at the energy transition (compared to 64% globally), although over half (56%) believes that the process is going too slowly. At the same time, only 9% express a negative judgment, in line with the global data. However, when environmental action involves direct costs, the consensus is reduced: 60% of Italians prefers the reduction of emissions compared to the maintenance of low prices. Support falls further to 51% when comparison is with increased wages and benefits for workers. A clear signal of the need to reconcile climate ambition, social equity and economic sustainability.
The topic of localization emerges as one of the elements of greater differentiation between Italy and the rest of the world. Most Italians believe that the country has too much dependence on global supply chains (for 49% of respondents) and too little local food production (41%) and manufacturing (50%), with higher dissatisfaction levels than the global average. About seven Italians out of ten prefer that companies produce (for 77% of respondents), hire (71%) and subsidize (65%) locally, although this entails higher costs for consumers: higher values of about 10% to global ones. Moreover, about eight Italians out of ten declare that they would have a more positive perception of a company that pays taxes in Italy (for 79% of the respondents), creates local jobs (70%), localizes production (82%) or supply (80%) and maintains the headquarters on the national territory (79%). These data confirm that, more than elsewhere, in Italy the corporate reputation is closely linked to the ability to generate tangible economic and social benefits at local level. The attention to environmental issues remains very high in Italy, often higher than the global average. 82% of Italians consider the transition to renewable energies very important and a similar percentage considers it essential to act decisively against climate change (while global values are 75% and 74% respectively). 63% of Italians look favourably at the energy transition (compared to 64% globally), although over half (56%) believes that the process is going too slowly. At the same time, only 9% express a negative judgment, in line with the global data. However, when environmental action involves direct costs, the consensus is reduced: 60% of Italians prefers the reduction of emissions compared to the maintenance of low prices. Support falls further to 51% when comparison is with increased wages and benefits for workers. A clear signal of the need to reconcile climate ambition, social equity and economic sustainability.
In the social field, Italians show particularly high expectations. Only a third believes that large companies are making the right amount of efforts to protect the interests of employees (27% of respondents), support local communities (32%) and consider the social impact in business decisions (30%), a more severe judgment than the global average. At the same time, there emerges a strong support for policies of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), higher than that recorded internationally. The most supported initiatives concern the closure of the gender pay gap (supported by 78% of respondents) and accessibility to promote participation in work and the creation of inclusive environments (77%). Measures such as gender goals (72%) and structured inclusion policies also collect a majority of consensus (70%), although with slightly lower support levels. Fiorenzo Tagliabue, Group CEO of SEC Newgate, commented: “The company’s reputation has changed significantly over the last year. With the evolution of political attention and social expectations, the Impact Monitor highlights a clear trend in all markets: people judge companies based on the real impact they are able to generate, especially in communities closest to their activities. This change is redefining the way organizations build credibility and get legitimacy to operate. For global enterprises, the challenge is to bring different local expectations to a coherent global direction and, at the same time, translate this direction into meaningful actions in each market. Addressing this challenge requires deep knowledge of communities, regulators, markets and media with which they operate, as well as the ability to balance different expectations while maintaining global credibility.” The Italian results confirm that the reputation today builds less on the statements and more on the real, visible and consistent impacts with local expectations. Paola Ambrosino, CEO of SEC Newgate Italia, explains: “In Italy expectations for enterprises and institutions remain very high, but the perception is that concrete action is not yet sufficient. The data highlights a strong need for greater transparency, listening and ability to make visible the impact generated. Strengthening trust and reputation today means speaking the language of local communities and demonstrating, with concrete facts, the value created for the territories”.
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