Sustainable Finance has become a tangible driver of the economic and environmental transition. For businesses, investors, and institutions, sustainability is no longer solely about long-term objectives: it directly affects the ability to access markets, engage effectively with supply chains, secure financing, and demonstrate progress through robust and credible evidence.
In this context, the quality of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) information has become a decisive factor. Reliable, comparable, and verifiable data help assess risks and opportunities, making the relationship between businesses, the financial system, and stakeholders more transparent.
The study “The Role of Accredited Certification in Sustainable Finance”, conducted by Accredia and Prometeia, highlights the value of accreditation and certification as tools that help organizations structure their business processes, monitor performance, and enhance the credibility of the information communicated to the market.
The findings confirm the widespread adoption of accredited certifications across the Italian business landscape. Between 2012 and 2025, the number of organizations operating under an accredited management system certification increased from approximately 75,000 to more than 100,000. Although they represent only a limited share of active businesses, these organizations account for more than 40% of the total turnover generated by Italian companies.
The analysis also shows that ESG certifications are associated with stronger financial and sustainability performance. For example, among companies already certified to ISO 9001, the adoption of ISO 14001 environmental certification is associated with an estimated increase in turnover of 4.3% in the year of certification, 8.4% after one year, and 11.4% after two years. ESG indicators also show significant improvements: for the environmental dimension, the estimated increase reaches 10.6% two years after certification.
Certification, therefore, is not merely a compliance requirement or a reputational asset. It can become a practical organizational tool that helps define responsibilities, collect evidence, monitor key performance indicators, improve the clarity of reported results, and strengthen the confidence of customers, investors, financial institutions, and supply chain partners.
ESG-READY: A Practical Framework for Organizing and Enhancing ESG Data
To support organizations on this journey, RCA has developed ESG-READY, a service designed to help businesses and organizations understand, organize, and maximize the value of their ESG information.
RCA has also developed a dedicated digital platform that enables organizations to complete their ESG-READY Declaration and subsequently receive RCA’s assessment.
Upon successful completion of the process, the organization is issued a Verification/Validation Statement and officially becomes an ESG-READY Organization—fully prepared to manage ESG matters in a structured, transparent, and effective way.
ESG-READY provides organizations with a structured pathway, beginning with an assessment of the business context and material issues, and continuing through data collection, KPI definition, and the preparation of clearer, more consistent, and decision-ready ESG information for use in communications with stakeholders, customers, and supply chain partners.
The objective is not simply to produce documentation for its own sake, but to transform sustainability into a manageable business process: identifying priorities, making reliable data available, supporting informed decision-making, and establishing a solid foundation for future ESG verification, certification, and reporting initiatives.
In a market where transparency, measurability, and reliability are becoming increasingly important, ESG-READY represents a valuable tool for helping organizations prepare for the demands of sustainable finance and seize the opportunities created by the sustainability transition.