United to fight energy poverty

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“Insieme per contrastare la povertà energetica” the Manifesto by Banco dell’Energia

Defined by Ipsos as a "poly-crisis," i.e., a series of overlapping events (from the pandemic to the Russia-Ukraine conflict to the rise in inflation), the historical period we are living through sees energy playing an ever more important role in the geo-political, environmental, and social context, and this has a great impact on consumers.

Actually, new data from  Ipsos, presented during the fourth general meeting of the Manifesto "Insieme per contrastare la povertà energetica" (United to fight energy poverty) by Banco dell’Energia -  an entity that brings together companies, institutional organizations, trade associations, and stakeholders in a single network – confirms the impact of these events on the confidence of Italians: 81% fear they will not be able to pay their bills in the near future and 64% feel they will be impacted in some way by energy poverty.

The general meeting, which was held on May 25 at the Pontificia Università in Rome – with the participation of Maria Teresa Bellucci, deputy minister of Labor and Social Policy, and Lucia Albano, undersecretary of Economy and Finance – brought together all signers of the Manifesto to analyze the situation on a national level and work together to come up with effective solutions to fight this phenomenon.  

The event was also an opportunity to formalize the endorsement of the Manifesto by 14 new signatories, including our Group, joining in on the Banco dell’Energia’s mission along with other companies committed to raising awareness and addressing the emergency of energy poverty through concrete actions, with the aim of:

  • increasing awareness about energy consumption
  • ensuring people have access to tools for energy efficiency 
  • supporting the most vulnerable people and families via targeted initiatives.

Systemic action

In order to build a new social model where access to energy can be even more democratic, sustainable, and equitable, systemic action is needed in order to counteract poverty and exclusion and help establish a new culture and awareness about the opportunities offered by technology and digital solutions. The idea is to make the industrial sector and private consumers more efficient in a sustainable way, so that the necessary energy transition to renewable sources can become a collective process that is stable, healthy, and involves social inclusion.

«Creating a system among all of the big companies is a key element to fighting energy poverty», emphasized our Head of Country Italy Nicola Lanzetta during his talk. «We need to work on initiatives that can provide concrete help, with an important social impact, such as educating people about conscious consumption and setting up Renewable Energy Communities, as well as laying the groundwork to offer concrete support to new generations. One example of this is the project School4Life to combat student school dropout, which our Group is taking the lead on. But before we take any action, it is necessary to listen to the local communities to hear about their needs, because only by understanding their needs can we provide adequate tools to create value and turn the tide».

Technological innovation, social inclusion, speaking with local communities: these are just some of the core values that guide our commitment to Italy and that we share with the Banco dell’Energia – aware that, in the face of the challenge of energy poverty, we need to embark upon a common path that can shape a society where every person can have free access to energy, working together for a sustainable future of peace, well-being, and prosperity.