Membership status: Strategic Partner
The international banking group, Intesa Sanpaolo, is one of the largest European banking groups and the leader in Italy across all business areas — retail, corporate, and wealth management — with 11.1 million customers. It is also active in Central Eastern Europe, with 8.2 million customers served by its subsidiaries, Middle Eastern and North Africa, as well as the United States, Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
Intesa Sanpaolo joined the Foundation’s Network in 2015 as our first financial services Strategic Partner, embracing the circular economy in order to create sustainable, long-term economic growth.
The circular economycircular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. offers a major opportunity for the financial sector to deliver on climate commitments and other ESG objectives, whilst tapping into sources of new and better growth and long-term value creation. Corporate finance has a key role in supporting investments for the transformation of business models into circular ones. As a Strategic Partner, Intesa Sanpaolo helps to redefine business strategies and provides financial support for investments addressing the re-design of the industrial system.
Intesa Sanpaolo’s commitment to financing and supporting innovative circular economy businesses, in Italy and beyond, is an important contribution towards creating an economy that works in the long term. Difficult access to finance is consistently quoted among the barriers that entrepreneurs wishing to innovate with circular models find themselves up against. By recognising there is a new economy emerging and by creating tools to help it, Intesa Sanpaolo actively contributes to the transition and takes a leading role in this new world of opportunities.
- Ellen MacArthur, Founder and Chair of Trustees, Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Companies that shift towards a circular model can increase their medium to long-term competitiveness, becoming more appealing to financial institutions in terms of funding and financial support, while creating a positive impact within local communities.
- Carlo Messina, CEO, Intesa Sanpaolo
The circular economy in action at Intesa Sanpaolo: financing the circular economy:
Corporate finance has a key role in supporting investments for the transformation of business models into circular ones. Notable initiatives launched by Intesa Sanpaolo include:
Establishing a circular economy credit facility, to support innovative and transformative projects for SMEs and large companies based on the principles of the circular economy. Initially allocating a credit ceiling of up to EUR 5 billion for 2018-2021, Intesa Sanpaolo has announced a further EUR 8 billion will be allocated to the facility as part of its 2022-25 Strategic Plan.
It launched a EUR 750 million sustainable bond to support circular economy companies in 2019.
With the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Intesa Sanpaolo has promoted the circular economy through the Circular Economy Startup Initiative, an acceleration programme for startups in Italy, London, Hong Kong, and Dubai
Establishing the Circular Economy Lab in 2018, in partnership with the Cariplo Foundation. The lab, headquartered in Milan, aims to create value for the group’s client companies by developing circular research and innovation programmes.
Promoting the Circular Economy Manifesto signed by leading Made in Italy businesses and supported by the Italian government.
Contributing as Lead Partner to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s 2019 report Cities and Circular Economy for Food, launched at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Together with the Foundation and Bocconi University, the company published a white paper, The circular economy as a de-risking strategy and driver of superior risk-adjusted returns.
