The challenge of decarbonisation and competitiveness for B7 companies
Ahead of the G7 Environment Summit (29 and 30 April at the Venaria Reale royal palace), a summit of companies from industrialised countries was held at the Ui in Turin
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3' min read
Businesses from the G7 countries gathered in Turin, just a few hours before the official opening of the working sections of the G7 Environment Conference being held in Venaria Reale, on the outskirts of the Piedmontese capital, to reiterate commitments and challenges related to decarbonisation and energy transition. A game in which, as recalled by Fatih Birol, director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), during his speech at the second 'Industry Stakeholders Conference of the G7 2024' held at the Industrial Union of Turin, European industry is staking part of its competitiveness.
Emma Marcegaglia, chair of the B7, reiterated the need in addressing the transition, to join forces, between public and private, starting with the need for targeted industrial policies. "There will not be a just transition, but only widespread relocation," Marcegaglia said, "if our governments do not manage to make national industrial policies converge towards the same shared goals.
The G7 Environment Summit in Turin is also an extraordinary opportunity for the Italian government to reiterate several strategic aspects of the energy and environmental policy that the ministry headed by Gilberto Pichetto Fratin is pursuing: the 'reopening' of the parenthesis on nuclear energy, the commitment to reverse the ratio between renewable and traditional sources by 2030, and support for biofuels as a transition technology for the transport sector. "The European Industrial Alliance on Small Modular Reactors (Smr), launched by the European Commission in February 2024 with the aim of accelerating the development and deployment of Smr in Europe in the early 2030s, is seeing substantial Italian participation," the minister reiterated.
Pichetto reiterated the will to close the chapter on coal-fired power stations - "Brindisi and Civitavecchia are to be closed tomorrow morning," stressed Minister Pichetto - and the government's determination to explore, also from a legal point of view, the possibility of going down the nuclear route in Italy, "a source that we believe can be part of the energy mix necessary for the country's security and development, along with photovoltaics and geothermal energy," added the minister.
Parallel to B7, among other things, a workshop organised by the Atlantic Council and Ispi Yong Talents Program, in collaboration with the Turin-based Newcleo - a company founded by physicist Stefano Buono - was held as part of Planet Week, dedicated to the role of nuclear energy in the decarbonisation process. with one eye on emerging approaches to support nuclear projects and another on opportunities for the European nuclear industry.
