Sustainable development goals and the material issues of TIM
On 25 September 2015, in New York, the government leaders of the 193 UN Member States approved the “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” resolution, a policy document that identifies 17 global objectives (Sustainable Development Goals), broken down into 169 detailed targets to be achieved by 2030.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent common objectives in key areas to ensure the sustainable development of the planet, such as ending hunger and poverty, the protection and conservation of water resources, the production of clean energy, raising awareness about responsible and conscious consumption, promoting access to healthcare and education, and reducing economic and gender inequality.
“Common objectives” means thatallthe countries andall individuals arecalledonto contribute, joining forces with a view to collaboration and partnership. Companies are therefore asked to play an active role; with their resources and skills they can have a fundamental impact on the achievement of the global objectives.
The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development recognizes that “the dissemination of information and communication technologies and global interconnections have great potential to speed up the progress, to overcome the ‘digital divide’ and to develop a knowledge society.” This is what emerged from the “#SystemTransformation” study published in 2016 by Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) in partnership with Accenture.
The analysis revealed that at global level all the countries have significant gaps in the achievement of the SDGs and the progress obtained with the current business models will not allow the world to achieve them in the 15 years envisaged. Urgent changes are required, with exponential development rates and people-centred development.
This is why the ICT sector and digital solutions are critical: the rate of the dissemination and penetration of digital solutions is up to 23 times faster than traditional approaches.
The research has in fact shown that digital solutions can have a measurable positive impact, both directly and indirectly, in all three dimensions of the development covered by the SDGs, among which there is strong correlation: improve people’s quality of life, promote equitable growth and protect the environment.
TIM, aware of the ICT sector’s role in the achievement of the goals set for 2030, has responded to the ‘call to action’ launched by the United Nations. In 2016, the Corporate Shared Value department began an analysis of the contribution the Company can make in the achievement of the sustainable development goals.
Following this analysis, the material issues for the Company and the stakeholders of reference were redefined, based on the most important SDGs for TIM.
As a result, the Group’s materiality matrix, in addition to highlighting TIM’s priority areas of commitment, also reflects the SDGs to which the Company believes it can make the biggest contribution.
Specifically, the important Goals for TIM are:
- n.4: Education and quality
- n.5: Gender equality
- n.8: Decent work and economic growth
- n.9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- n.11: Sustainable cities and communities
- n.12: Responsible consumption and production
- n.16: Peace, Justice and strong Institutions
in addition to no. 3 “Good health” for positive impacts of e-health solutions and no. 13 “Combat climate change and its impacts”, for the inevitability and importance of the topic at global level.
On the basis of this evidence, TIM has launched a series of initiatives concentrated on the creation of shared value, focusing on three strategic areas of intervention identified as priorities as part of its Corporate Shared Value model: Social Innovation, Environmental Protection and the Digital Culture. Through these projects TIM creates shared value among the Company and its stakeholders and makes a solid contribution to the achievement of the reference SDGs.
In the infographic below, the 22 projects that create shared value can be attributed to SDGs that are important for the Group. A description of the individual projects is given in the corresponding chapters.