A study conducted on 10,000 Italian SMEs shows that issues such as climate change and the transition toward a more sustainable economy are still little present in the business world in our country. Only one of three companies is worried about the effects on their business model of climate change, and one of five about the consequences of a transition toward a more sustainable economy. Of the sample surveyed, 80 percent do not anticipate activating a risk management policy to combat climate change even for the future. The limited awareness in regard to green issues requires: the activation of policies to protect the environment both at the institutional level and the local economic level; better readiness of SMEs to seize the opportunities inherent in the PNRR; and lastly, a broader recourse to social responsibility ratings.