The GSForum took place in the city of Rome where a multidimensional approach to Sustainability has been discussed, drowning upon the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the OECD criteria which place people at the centre of action and efforts.
The inaugural session, held in the prestigious Sala della Lupa of Palazzo Montecitorio, saw the participation of the Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Maria Elena Boschi, who expressed the Government's commitment to the issues regarding Sustainability and its recent change in the criteria used to measure well-being. Topics were then developed by Professor Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize in Economics, whose Lectio Magistralis offered throughout insights on the inevitability of inequalities in our economic and social system, exacerbated by the disparity of opportunities that are available to individuals.
Welcomed the Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies, Marina Sereni, and the President of Telecom Italia Giuseppe Recchiwhose keynote address focused on the relevance of Digital Economy, Co-Chairmen Jean-Paul Fitoussi and Khalid Malikreiterated the primary purpose of the Global Sustainability Forum: to be a place of interaction between leaders to promote innovative ideas and take working decisions to face global challenges. Valerio De Luca, GSForum Executive Director, concluded the Inaugural Session stressing the importance of an effort required to the international community that could lead to smart investments in sustainable development.
On May 3, the activities lasted all day long and took place in the Sala delle Colonne at LUISS Guido Carli University, GSForum academic partner. The morning session, started by Prof. Andrea Prencipe, Deputy Rector of LUISS Guido Carli University, put under the spotlight a number of new initiatives for Sustainability so the Good Practices of many Start-ups whose reality was presented in critical and scientific terms by Prof. Matteo Giuliano Caroli. Among the others, the testimonial of Pierpaolo Abet, CEO of Universal Trust, which conceived and organized the Global Sustainability Forum, the one on Sustainable Finance and Real Estate of Paolo Crisafi, Director-General of Assoimmobiliare, and of others that work from a sustainable perspective such as Donapp, Inreslab, Kad3, Mediacom, Rete Fattorie Sociali, Rumundu and Scuter.
The case of responsible business as an essential and inclusive new practice was at the centre of the Sustainability and Innovation Session, introduced in the afternoon by Paola Severino, Rector of LUISS Guido Carli University and Marcello Messori, Director of the LUISS School of European Political Economy. An important parterre of Italian companies that are already active in sustainable development started a debate attended by Giampiero Massolo, ISPI President, Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, followed by Gabriele Galateri di Genola, President of the IIT and Generali, Maria Patrizia Grieco, President of Enel, and Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, President of Intesa Sanpaolo.
At the end of the day, the Minister of the Environment Gian Luca Galletti emphasised the importance of Circular Economy, in its practices of reuse and recycling, assessing the Environment with a role that is and will be central to the future of the National Economic System.
On 4 May, the last working session held at the headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, the major criticisms that international civil society and multinationals face in tackling climate change were discussed, as well as the implications within the energy and food sectors. Enrico Giovannini, spokesman for ASviS, coordinated the floor formed by René Castro-Salazar, FAO Assistant Director-General, Bill Becker, Executive Director of the Presidential climate action project (USA), Paolo Lembo, Director of the World Green Economy Organization, Alessandro Grandinetti, PwC Senior Partner and EMEA Oil&Gas Leader, Sabina Ratti, Executive Director at FEEM Eni Foundation, Massimo Predieri, Director of Fondazione Italiani and Rob Vos, Director of Agricultural Development Economics (ESA) at FAO.
The Declaration of Rome, resulting from the three days of activities, was handed to Claudio De Vincenti, Minister for Territorial Cohesion and the South, during the Concluding Session at Palazzo Chigi that saw the participation of Paolo Aquilanti, Secretary General to the Chamber of Deputies. This shows, once again, the close collaboration and the sensitivity of the Government over the questions raised by the Global Sustainability Forum: new imperatives of economic, social and environmental governance.
