Sofidel takes part in the “The Water Factor: Hygiene, environment, ethics, economics” conference at Chamber of Deputies of the italian Parliament in Rome
Among those attending, the Chamber of Deputies Vice President Marina Sereni, MP Raffaella Mariani and the Minister for the Environment Gian Luca Galletti. The event, inspired by the “The Water Factor” e-book promoted by Sofidel and published by Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, has been an occasion for raising awareness and identifying points for reflection on the delicate theme of responsible water management.
“The Water Factor: Hygiene, environment, ethics, economics” conference took place this afternoon in the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament (Aldo Moro Room). During this meeting, representatives of institutions, politics, business and civil society discussed the theme of water and its many implications in terms of the environment, hygiene, ethics and economics. The event was inspired by the recent publication of the e-book of the same name resulting from collaboration between Sofidel (the tissue production group known in Italy for the Regina brand in particular) and Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli.
The aim of the conference – with the participation of Gian Luca Galletti, Minister for the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, Marina Sereni, Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament, Raffaella Mariani, Environmental Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Luigi Lazzareschi, CEO of the Sofidel Group, Chiara Braga, Environmental Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Alessandra Goria, Teacher of Political Economy and Law, Tebaldo Vinciguerra, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development of the Holy See and Francesco Grandi, Operational Coordination Manager for Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli – was to promote reflection marked by various voices helpful in identifying positive models for socially and environmentally responsible water management.
“Sofidel has been delighted to make its own contribution to this event. We are perfectly aware of how precious a resource water is, both for natural balance and human well-being,” commented Luigi Lazzareschi, CEO of the Sofidel Group. “This is the reason why we have already committed to using it responsibly, first of all in all our production sites, and we work on various levels to raise awareness among our partners. We consider today’s initiative, which brings together businesses, institutions and representatives of civil society,” added the CEO, “a positive example of a multi-stakeholder approach, the only effective one, in our view, for positive management and orientation of the transition towards a more responsible economy with lower environmental impact.”
“When we think about drought emergency, which is an ordinary condition for many areas of the Planet, we need to implement a long-term approach on water issues. These issues are a key strategic factor for climate policies, a topic which is not only about environment but relates to wider themes – from geopolitics to health, from human rights to economy – and require a shared approach among public, private, business and third sector players” MP Raffaella Mariani (Democratic Party) commented, among the initiative’s promoters. “This is the interpretation we chose to give today, thanks to an initiative born from the mission of a big player in tissue industry, Sofidel, that has supported the production of an e-book devoted to water issues along with Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli. The adopted approach has been truly notable to me, mostly because the point of view is the one of a company that has to face the matters of environmental sustainability with concrete actions that have an economic impact in production planning. Such actions require investments, technologies, infrastructures and that represents for this an example to acknowledge and spread.”
Sofidel, as part of its environmental sustainability policy, is also committed to contributing to achieving the 6th Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations (ensuring access to water and sanitation for all). To this end, it recently began a three-year period of collaboration with WaterAid, an NGO headquartered in the United Kingdom, which aims to bring clean water and acceptable levels of sanitation to everyone, everywhere by 2030. Through this new partnership, Sofidel is also committing to a more general task of raising awareness among its stakeholders. “The Water Factor” e-book marks a chapter in this activity. The book can be downloaded from the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli web platform at http://fondazionefeltrinelli.it/en/schede/the-water-factor and has enabled a greater public to access the information and promptings offered by the experts that Sofidel gathered in Milan on 22 March for World Water Day. The Group has always worked to limit the consumption of water in its production processes. Thanks to management measures and specific investments, the Group’s production sites today uses amounts of water much lower than that considered good practice for the sector.