Cooperatives in the Energy Sector, Sustainability, and Circular Economy: Practices and Opportunities Between Tradition and Future

This paper aims to study the link between cooperatives and sustainability principles through both micro and macro analysis. Using data from surveys within the Confcooperative system, two significant findings are highlighted: (i) cooperatives engaged in sustainable investments are steadily growing; (ii) the green transition could be problematic for cooperatives, especially smaller ones, without significant social and political supports. The paper examines three paradigmatic cases of success within Confcooperative, covering different sectors, company histories, and economic performances, all of them characterized by investing in the circular economy and renewable energy (“Caviro”, “Ortika”, and “Forza e Luce”). Finally, the focus turns to the future and the main policies of the Italian and European governments, including the NextGenerationEU, Recovery and Resilience Facility, and REPowerEU plans. The Italian plan offers several projects and investments that can foster the sustainability of cooperatives, already evidenced by 785 projects realized by 611 cooperatives, as beneficiaries, for more than 900 million of euro of public and private financing. In fact, among them the main part of these projects is focused on green transition, concerning the second Mission of the plan. As a result, also these macro data therefore encourage cooperatives to pursue and accelerate the path toward a more sustainable economy.