The leather industry’s main representative body in Europe, COTANCE, has welcomed a new online initiative from Italy’s national industry association, UNIC.

Earlier in the summer, UNIC launched a dedicated web platform for sharing Italian leather manufacturers’ commitment to sustainability and to share data on the progress they are making in all areas of environmental, social and governance (ESG).

On launching the new platform, UNIC said it wanted to show that environmental responsibility is “part of the culture of the Italian leather industry, not a marketing tool”.

At the time of the launch, the current president of UNIC, Fabrizio Nuti, said leather manufacturers in Italy had been working for more than 20 years to measure their environmental impact and make improvements to it.

He pointed out that, having published a detailed, dedicated sustainability report every year since 2003 made the leather sector one of the first in Italy to offer in-depth insight into its impact.

“Now it’s time to raise the bar,” Mr Nuti said. “We want to offer this platform as a faster, more flexible, more accessible means of sharing information, data and details about our projects, our activities and our best practices.”

He said this would help build dialogue between leather manufacturers and all stakeholders, including legislators, civil society and public opinion.