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UniCredit ESG DAY
Empowering a Just and Fair Transition
#UniCreditESGDay
As a bank, we are committed to delivering a just and fair transition for all - holding ourselves to the highest possible standards in order to do the right thing both for our clients and society.
This means leading by example, taking responsibility for the wellbeing of our communities and of the world we share, with ESG principles guiding all of our decisions and actions.
Our inaugural ESG Day on November 9 2023 was a one-day event of meetings and discussions, involving both internal and external stakeholders, covering the full spectrum of ESG topics.
It was a moment to share best practices and speed the necessary transition to a greener economy and more equal society.
Watch the recording of the event below and browse through the panel sessions.
ESG is embedded in everything we do and it is one of the five strategic imperatives of our UniCredit Unlocked strategy. It is a collective mindset that we all take responsibility for.
Through impactful and engaging conversations, we hoped to raise awareness of these themes both inside and outside the bank - creating a space for exchanging ideas and finding innovative solutions to the pressing challenges facing our world today.
A selection of our recent sustainability publications can be found here.
You can go through the main points of the panels in our One UniCredit article and read our press release to learn more about the event.
We're already looking forward to next year's edition!
Agenda
Speakers
Panels and Biographies of Participants
- Massimo Catizone - Global Head of ESG Advisory, UniCredit
Massimo Catizone has over twenty years of experience in innovative financing transactions and delivering cutting edge solutions across asset classes. Prior to joining UniCredit, Massimo worked as a lawyer and credit analyst. Subsequently he was the chief executive officer of a medium-sized special situations fund based in Luxembourg. Massimo is adjunct professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, where he is also a member of the scientific committee of the Center for Applied Economic Studies. He recently co-edited the book; "Climate Change Adaptation, Governance and New Issues of Value: Measuring the Impact of ESG Scores on CoE and Firm Performance".
- Xavier Lerin - Senior Research Manager at ShareAction
Xavier Lerin is a Senior Research Manager at ShareAction, a non-profit that aims to harness the power of the financial system to tackle the biggest environmental and social challenges we face. Xavier leads the development of standards for the banking sector and evaluation of the top European banks against these standards. His research guides ShareAction's engagement with banks, investors, and other NGOs working to drive ambitious climate action in the banking industry. Before joining ShareAction, Xavier spent 10 years at BNP Paribas, holding various positions in structured finance and corporate banking across Asia and Europe.
- Paloma Lopez Imizcoz - ESG Manager, NB Renaissance
Paloma Lopez Imizcoz is a Vice president and has joined NB Renaissance in 2023 with a responsibility for ESG, Responsible Investing and sustainable growth. She works closely with the Investment team and portfolio companies to deliver tangible value through sustainability. Ms. Lopez Imizcoz has over 8 years of experience in the strategic sustainability and circular economy field, advising corporates and financial institutions in the integration of ESG topics within business management.
- Angela Morelli - CEO and Co-founder of InfoDesignLab
Angela Morelli is an award-winning information designer who lives and works in Norway. She is the CEO and co-founder of InfoDesignLab, and has worked with a wide range of scientific organisations including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the European Environment Agency, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Center for Climate Research and the World Meteorological Organization. She seeks to co-design data visualisations that empower audiences and support informed decision-making. Angela is a lecturer and acclaimed international speaker, having been recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
- Silvia Pavoni - Founder and Editor of FT Sustainable Views
Silvia Pavoni is the founder and editor of Sustainable Views, an intelligence service by the Financial Times Group providing insight into how environmental, social and governance principles are reshaping capital, and into the emerging sets of policy and regulations driving this change.
Since joining the FT Group in 2005, Silvia has been on assignment to over two dozen countries, reporting with both written and filmed pieces for The Banker, for which she most recently was economics editor.
She also serves as an advisory board member for the Women of the Future Programme and for the European Risk Management Council, and is part of the London council of not-for-profit WILL, Women in Leadership in Latin America.
- Francesca Perrone - Head of ESG & Start Lab Italy, UniCredit
Francesca Perrone leads activities related to innovation and sustainability for corporates, individuals and communities across UniCredit Italy. On the sustainability front, she focuses on the reinforcement of knowledge and instruments to help realise a better future. On the innovation side, Francesca developed both Start Lab and the Founders' Club, initiatives that provide a boost to start-ups and the innovation processes of Italian companies. She has over ten years' experience in investment banking and holds a PhD in Economics from the University of York.
- Giuseppe Zammarchi (moderator) - Head of ESG Metrics, Policies & Disclosures, UniCredit
Giuseppe Zammarchi is UniCredit's Head of ESG Metrics, Policies and Disclosure, reporting directly to the Head of Group Strategy & ESG. At the same time, he is also responsible for the Group's Net Zero team. Giuseppe began his career at Arthur Andersen in 1997. After three years, he joined UniCredit's Investor Relations function, covering relationships with institutional investors and equity analysts. He then took on responsibility for Executive Communications, before joining the staff of the Group Chief Risk Officer. In 2017, he joined the Group Sustainability team. Giuseppe holds a degree in Business Management from Bocconi University.
- Silvia Cappellini - General Manager Group Foundation, UniCredit
Silvia Cappellini started her career in 1992 in EY as Senior Auditor. She moved to The Coca-Cola Company in 1997 where she covered various roles, with growing responsibilities. She was eventually nominated in 2015 as Public Affairs & Communication Community Director Europe, responsible for the stewardship of The Coca-Cola Foundation across 38 markets. In 2018 she moved to a private foundation, where she developed social initiatives in collaboration with profit organizations.
In March 2022, Silvia joined the UniCredit Foundation, where she was last later appointed as General Manager, in November 2022.
- Ilaria Di Mattia - Head of ESG Strategy & Implementation, UniCredit
Ilaria is Head of ESG Strategy and Implementation at UniCredit Group. In her role, she is responsible for developing and updating the Group's ESG strategy, balancing the E, S and G dimensions. She also drives the ESG Strategy Roadmap, liaising with the ESG network across countries and working on key programmes such as the Group's ESG Global Architecture and Net Zero Transition plans. Before joining UniCredit in 2021, Ilaria was a Project Leader at Boston Consulting Group where she advised international clients across multiple industries on strategy, sustainability, corporate turnaround, and transformation plans. She has an engineering background and holds an MBA from London Business School.
- Enrico Giovannini - Professor at University "Tor Vergata" and Director of the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development
Enrico Giovannini is a full Professor of Economic Statistics and Sustainable Development at University "Tor Vergata" in Rome and Director of the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development. He has also enjoyed a political career that includes serving as Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility in the Draghi Government and Minister of Labour and Social Policies in the Letta Government. on the education side, he held the post of Director of Statistics and Chief Statistician of OCSE and President of ISTAT, while in 2014, he was appointed "Cavaliere di Gran Croce al Merito della Repubblica". He is author of more than 130 articles and 6 books on various economic and statistical topics.
- Giovanna Melandri - Human Foundation President, GSG Ambassador
Giovanna Melandri is an economist, cultural manager, environmentalist, and Founder and Chair of Human Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes innovative solutions for social problems. An expert ESG finance, sustainability, and international relations, she represented Italy in the G7 Social Impact Investment taskforce, is a founder and global ambassador of the Global Steering Group (GSG) for Impact Investment, and President of Social Impact Agenda for Italy (SIA). From 2012 to 2022, she also served as Chair of MAXXI, the National Museum for Contemporary Art, in Rome. Prior to this, she also held two ministerial posts in the Italian government: Minister of Culture (1998-2001) and Minister for Youth Policy and Sport (2006-2008). Giovanna regularly contributes to various newspapers including Huffington Post and Repubblica - Affari e Finanza.
- Matteo Ward - CEO and Co-founder of WRÅD
Matteo Ward is CEO and co-founder of WRÅD, a benefit corporation and design studio focused on sustainable development. He works in the fields of education, innovation and design to challenge the status quo of the fashion industry. Matteo is also an active member of Fashion Revolution, a non-profit organization that believes in the power of knowledge as a tool for change, because "you can't change what you can't see". For this reason, he has spent the past year working on JUNK, a docu-series he co-authored and hosted, to reveal the social and environmental impact of fashion. JUNK is a production of Sky Italia and Will Media.
- Stefano Zamagni - Professor of Civil Economics at the University of Bologna
Stefano Zamagni is Professor of Civil Economics at the Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, and Adjunct Professor of Public Sector Economics, Johns Hopkins University, SAIS Europe, Bologna. Since 1997, he has also served as President of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Association for Cooperative Culture and Nonprofit Organizations. He is a Member of the Board of Directors of the LUMSA University and, since 2007, has been Knight Commander of the Order of San Gregorio Magno. From 2019 to 2023, he was President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He has received four honorary degrees.
- Rossella Iorio (moderator) - Head of ESG Service Excellence, UniCredit
Rossella Iorio is Head of ESG Service Excellence UniCredit, reporting directly to the Head of Group Strategy and ESG of the UniCredit Group. She is passionate and experienced in sustainability issues, with a background in risk management. Among the activities she is dealing with the prevention of the risk of greenwashing, driving ESG cultural change through targeted training on sustainability topics and social projects at Group level, circular economy and biodiversity.
- Tim Flannery - Chief Councillor at the Australian Climate Council
Tim Flannery was 2007 Australian of the Year. In 2013 he founded, and is chief councilor, of the Australian Climate Council, Australia's largest and most successful crowdfunded organisation. Flannery has taught at Harvard University, and has advised governments both in Australia and Canada. In 2007 he established and co-chaired the Copenhagen Climate Council, and in 2011 was appointed Australia's first Climate Commissioner. He serves on the board of the Prince Albert II Foundation, has been a board member of WWF International and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, an advisor to the National Geographic Society, and board member of the Kelp Blue Foundation. He has published over 140 peer-reviewed scientific papers and has named 25 living and 50 fossil mammal species, many of which are from PNG. His 32 books include The Future Eaters and The Weather Makers, which has been translated into over 20 languages. He has made numerous documentaries and regularly writes for the New York Review of Books.
He serves on the Queensland Land Restoration Fund, a $100 million fund which focusses on carbon sequestration and biodiversity protection.
- Juergen Kern - Director Corporate Strategy and Sustainability at Group KfW
Director Corporate Strategy and Sustainability, KfW Group, Frankfurt am Main.
Since May 2018 Jürgen Kern is heading KfW's Corporate Strategy and Sustainability Department. He is responsible for advising KfW's Board on business strategies and sustainability for KfW Group including the management of KfW's subsidiaries.
From 2013 to 2018 he was Head of Division for Energy and Mobility for Southeast Europe and Turkey, responsible for KfW's portfolio in hydro power, wind power, transmission and energy efficiency. From 2009 to 2013 he was appointed KfW's Director in Brasilia, Brazil. Previously he worked in several positions in KfW's regional and strategic departments
Jürgen Kern holds a Master's Degree in International Economics.
- Telmo Pievani - Full Professor at the Department of Biology, University of Padua
Evolutionist, philosopher of science, essayist, teaches Philosophy of Biological Sciences at the University of Padua. From 2017 to 2019, he has been President of the Italian Society of Evolutionary Biology. He is author of 322-registered publications and several books: Imperfection. A natural history (Cortina, 2019); Finitude (Cortina, 2020); Serendipity (Cortina, 2021); Nature is bigger than us (Solferino, 2022). He is Fellow of several scientific societies. He is Director of Pikaia and Il Bo LIVE. Winner of 12 awards. Together with the Osiris Band and the "Deproducers" collective, he is the creator of science-themed theater and music projects.
He cooperates with RAI and he is a columnist for Il Corriere della Sera, and the magazines Le Scienze, Micromega and L'Indice dei Libri.
- Andreas Wagner - Head of Division Promotional Loan & Startup and Succession Financing at UniCredit HVB
Andreas Wagner is heading HypoVereinsbank's promotional loans business area. As Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) of HypoVereinsbank, he additionally takes charge for the newly created ESG Germany unit.
Andreas held various management positions for the UniCredit Group e.g. within Investment Banking and International Business.
Andreas Wagner is a member of various supervisory and advisory boards, e.g. the Advisory Board for the SME Council of KfW at the German Federal Ministry of Economics and the Supervisory Board of BayBG Bayerische Beteiligungsgesellschaft. For his research work he was awarded with the "Max-Weber-Prize for Business Ethics" by the German Economic Institute (IW).
- Rossella Iorio (moderator) - Head of ESG Service Excellence, UniCredit
As above