Protecting the planet by electrifying consumption, switching as quickly as possible from fossil fuels to renewable energy and making our economy sustainable: this is the modern movement towards the future that involves governments, big industries, small and medium-sized enterprises, local administrations and individuals. Everyone can, and must, do their part to combine sustainability and growth in a just transition that leaves no one behind. A new model of consumption and a new awareness Our main goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit the increase in global temperatures. To achieve this, the UN Global Compact, the Carbon Disclosure Project, the World Resources Institute and WWF have launched the Science Based Targets initiative to support the private sector in the rapid setting of targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Businesses are playing an increasingly central role in the transition, fully aware of the need to adapt their purpose (their contribution to society, the values they share) and business model to meet the challenge of sustainability. With Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), for instance, businesses can tailor their supply of renewable energy to suit their needs, either through a direct provision of energy delivered through the grid, or through a virtual PPA that issues energy attribute certificates for the renewable energy purchased. The world of finance is also now adopting a more forward-looking vision with sustainability in mind, and the kind of commitments that are consistent with this vision, such as the green bonds pioneered by Enel or the UN Global Compact’s CFO Taskforce. The conditions for accessing this fiunding are becoming increasingly rigorous and entail clear, coherent goals established by businesses as part of the green transition. Not merely consumers Through their consumer choices, individuals and households can help speed up the energy transition, making a difference and setting an example for others, which also pressuring businesses and governments to implement changes. They can buy energy generated from renewable sources instead of fossil fuels; they can choose electrification, which makes it possible to optimize and reduce consumption; they can cut costs from cooking to heating to personal transport; they can adopt behaviors and technologies that improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution. From photovoltaic panels to small wind turbines to micro-cogeneration systems, there are several technologies with which a citizen or a company can become a prosumer – that is, a producer of energy as well as a consumer. For example, a new opportunity is to join Renewable Energy Communities and participate in the installation and use of systems for the production and self-consumption of energy from renewable sources. A Renewable Energy Community (REC) is an association that produces and shares cost-effective renewable energy, greatly reducing CO2 emissions and energy waste. Members can be ordinary citizens, businesses, public administrations, small and medium-sized enterprises, etc. The electricity produced must be shared using the existing electricity distribution grid, and self-consumption occurs virtually. From photovoltaic panels to microgeneration plants and mini-wind turbines, there is a variety of technologies that individuals and companies can benefit from in order to become energy producers as well as consumers. One option is to make a Renewable Choice by taking part in the project that Enel Green Power has launched in Italy for individuals and households to co-finance the construction of renewable energy plants in their municipality or in other areas, supporting the energy transition and obtaining a lasting economic benefit for themselves as well. More generally, people can use their own purchasing choices to motivate businesses to work towards sustainability and operate in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Providing certainty and taking rapid action Nowadays, governments are being urged to speed up authorization procedures for renewable energy plants and promote the spread of the circular economy in all sectors of production, incentivizing energy efficiency measures and providing certainty to economic actors interested in developing renewable power plants. However, to accelerate the energy transition and facilitate the exponential growth of renewable energies that is a necessary condition for achieving our climate action goals, a holistic approach to policy is required from governments. This is because the benefits of decarbonizing energy extend well beyond individual sectors and include health, employment, education and equality. Government policies can also help exemplary businesses to improve even more, encourage other companies to follow their example and help convince individuals that their choices really matter. By prioritizing sustainable working methods and lifestyles, governments can help restore humanity’s relationship with what economist Partha Dasgupta termed “our most precious asset”: nature.
