I want to imagine a future that is more distant and radically different from the present in which we currently find ourselves. Above all, I like to envisage a more positive and human-friendly future than the one we will be forced to face if we are unable to propose innovative methods for corporate organisation and production, and instead continue with a collective vision that sees business as usual as the only viable option.

Imagining and implementing new and original solutions to redefine the economy and society is not a long shot, but a strong, pressing need today, one which affects everyone: individuals, businesses, institutions.

Let me provide an example. Many still assume that economic interests and environmental priorities are conflicting and almost always irreconcilable, and the notion of development, which includes that of unlimited growth, is viewed suspiciously.

However, I believe that the approach of those who place the dual concept of development and conservation at the centre of the debate is not only unrealistic but above all counterproductive to both objectives. I imagine a sustainable future as one able to combine a scenario of greater well-being for human communities together with respect and care for the environment and ecosystems. This requires deeper, more forward-looking, rapid thinking.

Simply consider how only a few years after the global diffusion of the idea of sustainability, the era in which companies operate solely to integrate environmental, social and governance principles into their strategies already seems to be in its twilight: what yesterday seemed to be the frontier of entrepreneurial innovation is now an approach that has already been overtaken by a new paradigm that sees companies as social actors engaged in redesigning and transforming markets to make them sustainable mechanisms in themselves.

From a phase that can be defined “incremental sustainability”, i.e., the first phase that characterised corporate responsibility, we are moving towards a perspective of “transformational sustainability” in which companies position themselves as active players in shaping a new market structure, which in turn reshapes an organisation’s conception of itself.

From waiting for the market to consolidate changes that would make the development of sustainable practices possible, we are moving towards an approach that asks companies to be the enablers of new market forms.

I am also thinking of a future in which the measurements of a company’s success are radically different from those of today, one in which creating new conditions of sustainability - but also immediately mitigating unsustainable conditions - is as important (I like to think, more important) than making an economic profit.

I am thinking of a new perspective, one that focuses on causes and not on symptoms; one that does not limit itself to considering the prosperity and growth of business but widens its gaze to a broader horizon, encompassing the vitality and quality of society and the care of the natural environment as our one common home.

Lastly, I am thinking of ambitious, forward-looking and equally transformative leadership which does not confine itself to managing merely what exists, but takes up the task of prefiguring and implementing the transition to entirely new ways of thinking and acting.

“Changing the way we do business” is not an expression to preserve the status quo: it is a vital necessity to prevent the future - and with it the lives of future generations - from being only a tempus nullius, an empty time that belongs to no one, a wasteland. This is why the idea of sustainability is essential and must be taken seriously by everyone, by a company like Cattolica but at the same time by each and every one of us.

Thanks to the path taken in recent years focusing on sustainability, Cattolica presents itself, along with the Generali Group, as a credible company with consistent and straightforward planning choices, free from any purpose other than the pursuit of an idea of sustainability aimed at generating positive economic, social and environmental effects according to a concept of the future that focuses on people’s quality of life.

Therefore, sustainability as a redesign of the future. And the necessary courage to question many of the existing socioeconomic paradigms. But also transparency, as an essential condition for generating trust and fostering a new conception of corporate purpose. For the present, certainly, but especially for the seven generations to come, whose future depends on the choices we make today.

Davide Croff
Chairman

The stakes are high and the importance of a company like Cattolica has been expressed in many areas: from the transition to a green economy that uses fewer fossil fuels to support for the agricultural sector, from proximity to the most vulnerable groups through products and services that redefine the concept of protection to new concepts of services for personal well-being.

It is not only a question of adhering to a new ethical dimension and corporate responsibility in its fullest sense. All economic actors increasingly recognise that the cost of capital will also be increasingly and directly linked to the sustainable performance of their business and the transparency with which they market themselves.

This is because investors recognise and reward the ability to integrate ESG factors right from the risk assessment and mitigation stage. We have been working to increase our resilience and capabilities in all these areas, improving many aspects of our internal management and organisation to present ourselves to our stakeholders and our major shareholder as best as possible, ready for the transition to full integration.

Even at the end of a year that was somehow unique, this Sustainability Report - drawn up by Cattolica prior to the integration of its ESG path within that of the Generali Group - intends, as always, to give a full account of the Company’s contribution along the multiple dimensions of sustainability and with respect to the reference stakeholders.

The prospect of joining forces with Generali has given us further impetus to strengthen our sustainability governance and make progress in certain priority areas: I would like to highlight the confirmation of the sustainability rating assigned by Standard Ethics at the beginning of the year, the award by CDP of a B- score - a quite eminent achievement for a first time reporting company - in the climate change questionnaire, and the establishment of an ESG Management Committee to coordinate and integrate environmental, social and governance initiatives into our business model.

I am convinced that joining the Generali Group will make us even more effective in other areas that are close to our hearts: equity, diversity and the inclusion of people, training and professional development, attention to the long-term impacts of investment choices and the creation and development of more sustainable and innovative products.

We are therefore ready, strengthened by our loyalty to our original mission - to safeguard and protect the lives of individuals, families and businesses - to provide our experience and our contribution to an insurance group that is already a national and international leader. I have no doubt that this integration will also give further stamina and greater effectiveness to the overall impact generated in terms of sustainability and ESG development strategies.

I would also like to thank all the people at Cattolica who have worked, and continue to work, with commitment and dedication to make the process of the company’s transformation and integration possible in a rapid and effective manner, demonstrating from an ethical and professional perspective that they are up to such a complex and ambitious project. We travel along this path hand in hand, towards a goal that we will achieve together

Carlo Ferraresi
Managing Director