As part of our series dedicated to the professionals leading the sustainable transition in Italy, we had the pleasure of interviewing Carolina Nizza, Head of Sustainability at Statkraft Italy.
Claudia: Hi Carolina, let’s start with your journey. Could you tell us about your background and the choices, including personal ones, that led you to work in sustainability, or more broadly in a context focused on generating positive value?
Carolina: My path towards sustainability has been anything but linear. I graduated in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the London School of Economics, with the dream of becoming a journalist. I was fascinated by international geopolitics, and above all by understanding the dynamics that shape global events.
For several years I worked in institutional relations at Pirelli, between Italy, China, Brazil and Turkey, a unique opportunity at my age. I learned a great deal about corporate communication and advocacy, and it was there that I began to observe sustainability more closely.
Then, just as climate movements such as Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future were emerging, and as the “Fit for 55” package, the precursor to the Green Deal announced by then European Commissioner Timmermans, was taking shape, I joined Snam, an energy infrastructure company that at the time was undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the ambition to build a future-proof network.
That was when I fully immersed myself in the energy transition, and began working with sustainability not merely as a reporting obligation, but as a lever for transforming the business and its purpose. I worked on projects I truly believed in, which helped me develop the skills and confidence to navigate this field.
Today, at Statkraft, Europe’s leading renewable energy producer, the challenge is precisely this: demonstrating that sustainability is not only about what you do, but above all how you do it, in order to generate positive value over time. And that, to me, is what makes this challenge so exciting.
Claudia: Was there a particular “turning point” or experience that made you think: this is the right direction?
Carolina: I don’t know if there was one specific moment. In truth, there were also many moments when it was easy to feel discouraged, because it was difficult, because sustainability didn’t, and perhaps still doesn’t, follow a clear and well-defined path, and because the word itself is now used so frequently that it can be hard to stay anchored to what it truly represents.
Yet there has always been a constant voice within me, intuition, perhaps, that kept pushing me to believe this was the right direction. I remember that at a certain point, after working extensively in both areas, I was faced with a choice between communication and sustainability. Despite my love for the former and many doubts, I felt strongly that I had to pursue the latter, at least to experience it first-hand and deepen my understanding.
I believe that, sooner or later, these two paths inevitably converge, because sustainability is also about storytelling, engagement, and about moving people in its direction, minds and hearts.
Ultimately, to answer the question, sustainability for me has been more of a vocation than a turning point: a constant desire to help build something more.
Claudia: Sustainability is talked about a great deal today, often in quite generic terms. If you had to define it in your own words, what does it really mean, and what is it not?
Carolina: As I mentioned earlier, to me, sustainability is a different, and I hope better, way of doing things. It is a term that originates in economics and, in its purest sense, calls for the creation of value that lasts over time. For decades, however, it was interpreted through a “Friedman-style” lens: maximising profits and shareholder returns, often at the expense of everything else.
Today, we should instead interpret it through a truly multi-stakeholder model. Only then can sustainability become a driver of growth that generates positive impacts for everyone: yes, profits, but also well-being for employees and their families, value for the communities in which companies operate, protection for the planet, and responsibility towards future generations. Ultimately, it is about doing things in a way that safeguards everyone, including those yet to come.
Claudia: Turning to your role at Statkraft, what are your main objectives today?
Carolina: At Statkraft, we start from a very strong foundation: we are a company with deep ethical values, strong inclusivity, and genuine respect for people. Our CEO is a woman, which fills me with pride, especially in our sector. The real challenge today is to transform not only what we do, but how we do it.
We are working to integrate sustainability into all our processes, shifting the cultural mindset and promoting an approach where sustainability becomes a shared responsibility across the organisation. In Italy, in the territories where we develop our projects, we want to challenge the status quo: designing facilities that create real value, proving that it is possible to work alongside communities and change the paradigm.
Claudia: How would you describe the impact you aim to generate, who it affects, and how you measure it, or understand whether you are heading in the right direction?
Carolina: Alongside environmental impact and the protection of our people, we place great emphasis on promoting a just transition, one of the four core pillars of our sustainability strategy. Advancing a “just” transition means going a step further in the territories: involving them, raising awareness about the importance of being active participants in the energy transition, and providing tools to help them become protagonists.
At the moment, we are working on a paper to understand which types of compensatory measures, those required by regulation when building facilities, actually generate the greatest positive impact. In other words, which ones are truly the most “just” for local communities.
At the heart of it all, however, lies something simple and essential: understanding, dialogue, listening, and responding to the real needs of real people. Measurement is important, but secondary. Until we have shared methodologies and robust tools to quantify impact, and I know we are all working towards that, what truly matters is being able to see and feel the effects on communities. It is a matter of conscience, even before numbers.
Claudia: How would you describe your collaboration with Green Future Project, and the value it has brought to Statkraft?
Carolina: Green Future Project has helped us unlock much of this potential. Through the ESG Academy, we launched our internal Sustainability Challenge: a learning journey for our employees made up of twelve modules, seven core courses and five in-depth sessions, delivered over six months. This allowed everyone to feel involved and better understand the many dimensions of sustainability.
From the evolution of sustainability and ESG and its regulatory framework, to decarbonisation pathways, protection of natural resources and emissions calculations, all the way to reflecting on how each of us can play a role in this journey, we sought to make this a truly shared experience, in the spirit of one of Statkraft’s core values: We grow together.
In addition, thanks to your regeneration projects, we contributed to the ecosystems of territories where we are already active, Puglia and Sardinia, regions we care deeply about. There, we committed to planting one tree for each of our employees, as a gesture of gratitude towards those who embraced this educational journey.
Overall, it has been a truly synergistic collaboration, united by a shared goal, and one I hope will continue and grow stronger over time.
Claudia: In this journey with GFP, you chose the ESG Academy. What led you to focus on a training platform for employees, and what need were you aiming to address?
Carolina: The need was to strengthen understanding, accountability, and shared ownership. The Academy allowed us, playfully and engagingly, to launch an internal challenge capable of generating interest and involvement, while also helping people grasp topics that can sometimes feel far removed from everyday work, actively engaging everyone.
Challenges and opportunities for the years ahead
Claudia: Looking to the future, what do you see as the most encouraging signal in sustainability today, and what is the greatest challenge?
Carolina: I believe we are living through a particularly complex moment. Between geopolitical tensions, conflicts, uncertainty, reactionary ideologies, and the rapid advancement of disruptive technologies, we are experiencing upheaval that can easily generate fear and paralysis.
And yet, I consider myself a stubborn optimist. I am convinced that if we manage to shift sustainability from a compliance-driven exercise to a space of opportunity, truly unlocking its potential, it can become a binding force, a connective tissue capable of uniting, transforming, and harmonising.
In that case, it could even become a powerful tool for addressing today’s challenges, providing the momentum needed to rethink how we do things and how we build our future.
Claudia: To close on a more personal note: what advice would you give to those who want to start working in sustainability, or who are already in the field, to maintain confidence and motivation?
Carolina: Never be afraid to dare. Observe how things are created, learn how to navigate from within, always respect others and the context you are in, and never stop asking questions. Constantly ask yourself what works and what could be improved. What should be preserved and what should change. And when you truly understand how you can make a difference, never be afraid to make your voice heard.
The interview with Carolina Nizza is an invitation to return sustainability to its most authentic meaning: a different way of doing things, capable of creating lasting value over time and across territories. From internal training to relationships with local communities, a clear direction emerges: the transition is only truly “just” when it is shared.