Climate change, plan halted so condemned to emergency

In 2023, Italy introduced the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (Pnacc), which is the reference tool to tackle the increasing fragility of the Italian territory in the face of the effects of climate change. Its objective is, on paper, to reduce vulnerabilities, increase resilience and ensure sustainable resource management, with direct effects on citizens' safety, the protection of ecosystems and the cultural and economic heritage. On paper, because the Plan still has ample room for improvement, starting with its implementation. Some regions - such as Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto - have already launched climate legislative initiatives, but the national framework remains complex and multiform. It is also necessary to strengthen integration and communication at the national level, so as to favour a wider dissemination of good practices and an increasingly concrete translation of the guidelines. And that it is urgent to apply the Pnacc is well illustrated by Ispra data: the most affected regions - Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Campania, Veneto, Lombardy and Liguria - frequently experience extreme events that are becoming increasingly intense and devastating.

Climate change amplifies vulnerability. In Europe the temperature has risen more than twice the global average, with an increase in extreme weather events: from around 300 recorded in 2022 to 351 in 2024, with a further +31% in the first six months of 2025. The warming of the climate bringsshort and intense rains alternating with long droughts, melting glaciers, coastal erosion and rising seas. All phenomena that increase the risk of landslides, floods and debris flows. In this context, without a decisive application of the Pnacc, Italy risks living in a condition of permanent emergency. Unlike earthquakes, which can be dealt with by earthquake-proof constructions, against landslides and floods the only real strategy is not to expose oneself: prevent, protect and, when necessary, move away from the most dangerous areas.

The NAPCCA classifies adaptation actions by distinguishing between systemic measures and policy measures. The former concern governance, knowledge and monitoring, as well as the integration of adaptation into policies. The latter comprise a catalogue of 361 actions in different sectors (water, coasts, agriculture, health, urban settlements, etc.). Alongside this distinction, the distinction between structural and non-structural interventions remains useful in the Italian debate: the former concern defence and consolidation works, to be implemented in a preventive and non-speculative key, avoiding new constructions in fragile areas; the latter include the updating of hazard maps, monitoring systems, the dissemination of risk culture, the strengthening of municipal civil protection plans, training and awareness-raising activities.

In a strongly anthropised country such as Italy, uncontrolled urbanisation, squatting and soil consumption exacerbate natural hazards. This is why the Pnacc emphasises the need for sustainable urban planning, capable of promoting relocation and urban regeneration, with stringent constraints to avoid new exposures. Constant monitoring with innovative tools is another key action: it does not eliminate the danger, but allows early signals to be detected, warning systems to be activated and lives to be saved.

*Aigaa President and Polimi Ordinary