Achab Group is a benefit corporation: common welfare at the heart of the enterprise

We at Achab Group decided to experience sustainability first hand to set an example and to contribute in our own small way. That is why we became a Benefit Corporation in 2019, putting sustainability at the core of our corporate purpose on the same level as profit goals.

1. What it means to be a Benefit Corporation

   Introduced in Italy on 1 January 2016, the first state outside the United States, the Benefit Corporation is the evolution of the concept of business, with its focus on the future and the positive impact on society and the biosphere; there are already over 500 Italian companies that have chosen to be part of this movement. We at Achab Group are proud to be among them because we believe it is a key step in ensuring the creation of long-term value for all stakeholders and for our planet.
   Being a Benefit Corporation means integrating the well-being of society and the environment into its corporate purpose, in addition to profit objectives. It is not, therefore, a different type of non-profit or social enterprise, but a positive transformation of the classic for-profit business models to adapt them to the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

2. The Common Benefit

   Benefit corporations undertake to voluntarily pursue, in addition to the profit motive, one or more purposes of common benefit. The common benefit is the achievement of a well-defined objective that has positive effects, including through the reduction of negative effects on society, on the environment, on the cultural heritage and on other stakeholders.
   The pursuit of common benefit by Benefit Corporations must be carried out in a responsible, sustainable and transparent manner, balancing the interests of shareholders and the community. All this must be reported in an annual impact report explaining the actions taken and the strategy for the future.

3. What we do to be a benefit corporation

   We at Achab Group have selected nine goals of common benefit to be pursued and we planned our actions accordingly.

   1. Guaranteeing the well-being and happiness of the people involved in the corporate activities: we developed corporate welfare reward mechanisms and active 'listening' moments for employees. We also promote WHF to facilitate the performance of activities;

   2. Promoting the principles of environmental, economic and social sustainability: considering our field of action, we could not fail to include sustainability here as well. We are committed to producing awareness-raising campaigns on environmental issues, also aimed at schoolchildren and students;

   3. Spreading social equity and equality between peoples and people: we are part of an international cooperation project in Ethiopia, to contribute to the development of the plastic waste collection and recycling sector;

   4. Respecting the environment, nature and all forms of animal and plant life: for items 4, 5, 6 and 9 we are committed to implementing and maintaining a certified environmental management system to combat climate change in our own small way and the avoidance of fossil fuel use in accordance with international Sustainable Development Goals

   5. Reducing the impacts of human activities on the biosphere;

   6. Fighting against climate change, overcoming the use of fossil fuels, and the use of renewable energy sources;

   7. Disseminating knowledge, information and culture on an environmental, cultural and social level for the growth of individual awareness and responsibility: to contribute to the growth and dissemination of individual awareness and responsibility and the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility we use communication tools that combine culture, emotion and scientific dissemination;

   8. Spreading the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility, applying them ourselves and promoting them locally: we are committed to carrying out our business activities by showing the due respect for our employees, suppliers and customers and for the principles of social, economic and environmental ethics;

   9. Pursuing the goals defined by international agreements for Sustainable Development and combating Climate Change.

4. Supporting the Casacomune training school

   A high-impact element of our strategy for social benefit is our collaboration with Casacomune, the school for scientific training, cultural dialogue and social encounter of Don Luigi Ciotti's Gruppo Abele.
   Casacomune is an association dedicated to the scientific, cultural and ethical promotion of the values expressed in Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato si', to promote the values and actions of integral ecology and justice, to act as enablers of conscience and responsibility, and to respond to the cry of the earth and humanity with a new ethic of integral ecology and forward thinking to safeguard the planet and communities.
   We cannot help but recognise that a true ecological approach is always a social approach, that the cry of the earth is our cry, that caring for Earth is caring for life.
   Specifically, we provide cost-free support to Casacomune in the processes of strategy definition, analysis and verification through internal training and consultancy and offer assistance with communication activities with the aim of maximising/saturating enrolments.