Rome, 10 February 2023 – Aspen Institute Italia, in partnership with CESI, will be holding an Aspenia Talk entitled “Italy, Energy Security and the Environmental Transition” at Palazzo Lancellotti, Piazza Navona 114, Rome, from 18:00 to 19:30 on 15 February 15.
Physically present and taking part in the hybrid conference, open to the media, are: Giulio Tremonti, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, Chairman of Aspen Institute Italia; Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Minister of the Environment and Energy Security; Guido Bortoni President of CESI; and Marta Dassù, Editor-in-Chief of Aspenia. While Aurelio Regina, Presidentof the Energy Technical Group, Confindustria; Davide Tabarelli President of Nomisma; and Laura Cozzi, Chief Energy Modeller, International Energy Agency, will be joining the session on line.
Journalists wishing to follow the event on line should use this link:
https://aspeninstituteitalia.zoom.us/webinar/register/3516759317197/WN_mNQzRreCT4SoA6rfP1XezQk
It will be possible to conduct interviews and briefings with individual figures taking part in the conference outside the conference’s working hours by applying to the Press Office beforehand.
The European Green Deal with its “Fit for 55” climate package, launched in July 2021, marked a change in the economic paradigm and a virtuous vision of the future, but it failed to specify some of the crucial phases in the transition. The plan focused heavily on support for the transition from fossile fuel to renewable sources, including with a policy involving a deliberate increase in the cost of the former by comparison with the cost of the latter. Today priorities have understandably been redirected toward security and diversity of supply. The fact remains, however, that defining energy strategy continues to be a prerogative of the EU’s individual national governments, which are tasked with selecting the path most appropriate for each country.
Italy, for example, still depends largely on the combustion of natural gas, but it can resort to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) to speed up the green transition, to increase the proportion of renewable sources in its national energy mix and to thus reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels. With that end in mind, it is going to be important to simplify the red tape surrounding the issue of authorizations that currently discourages investment and hampers the development of energy innovation projects. It is necessary to gradually reduce the country’s dependence on gas and fossil fuels, and to speed up its transition toward clean energy. The marginal costs of energy from renewable sources are very low, thus they represent the most sustainable option in the longer term. Alongside the integration of renewable sources into the energy mix, it is necessary to reduce the overall cost of energy and to allocate today the investments required to achieve the climate goals as soon as possible.
Stefania Salustri
Communications and Media Manager, Website Manager
Cell: 335-7919949
e-mail: stefania.salustri@aspeninstitute.it