Dispatch from Italy | October '24
*** Our weekly Dispatches provide an overview of the most relevant recent and upcoming developments for the shift to climate neutrality in selected European countries, from policy and diplomacy to society and industry. Get a bird's-eye view of the country's climate-friendly transition in the CLEW Guide – Italy moves on green transition, but fossil ties remain tight. ***
Stories to watch in the weeks ahead
Stories to watch in the weeks ahead
- The vote in Liguria, Italy’s northern coastal region, will take place onOctober 27 and 28. The snap election was called because the region's centre-right president, former journalist Giovanni Toti, had been arrested on corruption charges andresigned in July. The centre-left candidate is former environment minister Andrea Orlando, while the centre-right has chosen Macro Bucci, the current mayor of the region’s capital Genova. One of the most controversial elements of Toti's political legacy is the relocation of theGolar Tundra floating LNG terminal by operator Snam from the port of Piombino (Tuscany) to Savona (Liguria). The terminal is a key piece of the government’s gas supply diversification strategy for international gas purchases, but the relocation plan was met withprotests by local organisations and national NGOs like ReCommon and Greenpeace. Back in 2023, an estimated 16,000 protesters formed a human chain on the beaches around the terminal. As former regional presidentToti was the LNG project’s main political supporter, the election’s outcome could determine the terminal’s fate (which for now is still floating in Tuscany).
- Two other elections will take place onNovember 17 and 18: one in Umbria, a small landlocked region in the centre of Italy, and the other in the important northern industrial region of Emilia-Romagna, which was hit bythree extreme climate events between 2023 and 2024. In September 2024, a powerful storm hit towns there that were still rebuilding after the 2023 floods (17 dead, ten billion euros in damage). The outgoing president of the region is centre-left Stefano Bonaccini, who waselected to the European Parliament in June. His political heir is the mayor of Ravenna, Michele De Pascale. Ravenna is an interesting city to look at, and not just because of its Romanesque architecture. The city was hit hard by the recent floods and it is also where Eni and Snam will buildItaly's first Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) unit. The project is contested by environmental organisations, such as Greenpeace or Fridays for Future, which say it is just costly greenwashing, but mayor De Pascale is asupporter. His opponent will be centre-right civic candidate Elena Ugolini, a former undersecretary of education in the government under Mario Monti.
- Meanwhile, Italy’s renewables sector iswatching closely what will happen in Elettricità Futura, the power industry organisation within the major industry association Confindustria.Elettricità Futura represents small renewables producers and large electricity utilities. Newspaper Repubblica brokethe news that Confindustria is working to replace its president, Agostino Re Rebaudengo, who is seen as being too close to the EU’s Green Deal agenda. The assembly tasked with changing the leadership is scheduled to meet on 14 October. According to Repubblica, energy suppliers Enel and Edison as well as the large municipal utilities want to oust Re Rebaudengo in order to appoint a new president, who is more cautious about renewables development and more in line with the government’s agenda. Elettricità Futura acts like a union and no specific projects will be halted, but the course of the energy transition could lose a powerful advocate.
The latest from Italy – last month in recap
The latest from Italy – last month in recap
- The turmoil within Elettricità Futura is part of a more general priority shift inside both government and industry on the energy transition. On 18 September, Meloni spoke at thegeneral assembly of Confindustria, promising to meet their demands for a slower energy transition. Shesaid: “We will correct the Green Deal, which had disastrous outcomes, because it is the result of an ideological approach.” According to Meloni and Confindustria, production in Italy is slow because of decarbonisation, rules such as the gasoline and diesel car phase-out and energy costs. Three weeks later, Eni's CEO Claudio Descalzispoke at the Economy Days of coalition member Forza Italia. He said: “The trajectory traced by the (European) Commission on the automotive industry is outrageous and laughable. I am not against Europe, I am against stupidity, because stupidity is killing us. We are struggling because of these ridiculous ideologies dictated by a minority.”
- Sardinia’s recently appointed centre-left government has just passed a billbanning new wind and solar power almost entirely throughout the island. The president of the large island region, Alessandra Todde,said it will make just one percent of land suitable for new renewable projects.There is a strong grassroots opposition movement in Sardinia against large renewable installations, which combines the classic not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) approach with accusations of these projects developed on Italy’s mainland being exploitative and colonialist against the island resources and landscape.According to Edoardo Zanchini, former vice-president of the environmental organisation Legambiente and director of the city of Rome’s Climate Office,“no territory in Italy has a potential like Sardinia to benefit from the energy transition. It is incomprehensible to listen just to those who want the island to be excluded.”
- Meanwhile, the future looks bleak for Italy's climate protest movements.The right-wing majority has voted for anew security lawin the House and is preparing to vote for it in the Senate as well. When both houses will have voted on it, the bill will become national law. The law that has been dubbed ”anti-Gandhi” (after India’s independence hero Mahatma Gandhi) will make nonviolent roadblocks, such as those set up by the Last Generation movement, punishable by up to two years in prison.
Ferdinando’s picks - Highlights from upcoming events and top reads
Ferdinando’s picks - Highlights from upcoming events and top reads
- On 12 October, the town of Brescia will host an event called2035 Italia Impossibile. It was convened by climate activist and energy expertGiovanni Mori. He used to work as national leader of climate protest movement Fridays for Future and ran as an independent candidate in the European elections in June. While ultimately not getting elected, he received thousands of votes, which put him on the national political map as one of Italy's most promising young politicians. 2035 Italia Impossibile is the gathering of young green politicians who are struggling to find new ways to communicate and fight for the energy transition. Mori is trying to organise them and the result could be a new political party.
- The energy discussion in Italy is still monopolised on television and in newspapers by the topic of a return to nuclear power (exited in 1990 after a 1987 referendum). As energy expert Gianluca Ruggieri once told me, ”Nuclear power in Italy may get to give us five percent of power in 30 years, but in the meantime it is 95 percent of energy conversations.” An interesting article was written by Rossella Muroni, a former leftist and environmentalist parliamentarian. Muroni argues that it is easy to talk about Italy's nuclear future but we are still not dealing with its past, as no site has been found yet to for national nuclear waste repository. While waiting to find one,Italy is still keeping its waste (mostly medical) abroad . The question Muroni poses is: If we cannot find a solution to that small amount of nuclear waste, how can we reopen the chapter on large-scale nuclear fission?
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