Regional transition: progress is too slow
In some respects, the past summer was a single, prolonged heatwave. And the need for adaptation policies has resurfaced in public debate. These initiatives go hand in hand with concrete measures to rapidly reduce climate-changing emissions produced by the burning of oil, gas and coal.
The provincial capitals – where almost a third of the country’s population lives – serve as a vital testing ground for both policies, which, however, are struggling to become part of the wider system.
Despite the bureaucratic and regulatory hurdles, the energy revolution is moving forward. It has now even reached the rooftops of the most strictly protected sites, such as those in the Baroque district of Ragusa Ibla, thanks to a municipal by-law drawn up in collaboration with the Superintendency. The same applies to the solar panels installed on the roof of the Capodimonte Museum in Naples and the Dante Alighieri Theatre in Ravenna’s historic centre, in agreement with the regional offices of the Ministry of Culture. Not to mention the photovoltaic roof tiles laid on the roof of the Villa dei Misteri in the archaeological park of Pompeii. The most innovative initiatives are multiplying. No city has any more excuses.
Adaptation policies face far greater challenges. There are important initiatives, such as the strategy approved by Rome City Council last year, but without financial support from higher levels of government, the challenge for local authorities becomes extremely difficult. Following the latest flooding on the island of Ischia, the Government approved the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan at the end of 2023. However, in the last three budget laws, the Government has never allocated funds to implement even the priority measures amongst the Plan’s 361 actions. And, given the tight budget, the next budget bill is also likely to follow suit.
Nor have we made any headway on reducing hydrogeological risk or on initiatives to put the ‘sponge city’ concept into practice, to tackle the increasingly frequent and destructive extreme weather events in urban areas. Meanwhile, this parliamentary term, too, is drawing to a close without a law to halt land consumption: surreally enough, ground-mounted solar panels – which use the land but do not consume it – have been banned, whilst logistics hubs, data centres, infrastructure, industrial plants and new residential areas continue to be built on agricultural land. Even the law on urban regeneration remains a pipe dream.
