The future of energy
The Italian energy system managed to weather the perfect storm of 2022 generated by the spike in gas prices following the Ukraine war and the simultaneous reduction in hydroelectricity production caused by drought. That was made possible by replacing Russian gas with supplies from other sources.
Making the most of Italy’s energy resources
Despite the complexities associated with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the current global scenario offers new prospects for the energy transition.
The water industry
The water industry is strategic to the future of Italy from the point of view not only of the economy but also of the country’s resilience to the increasingly complex challenges posed by the climate crisis.
Navigating risk for a green world: challenges and opportunities
Ours is not an era of change, but rather the change of an era, and the state of the art is that of a sick (…)Navigating risk for a green world: challenges and opportunities
Making the most of Italy’s energy resources
The focus of both the G20 in Rome in October and of the COP26 in Glasgow in November was the energy transition. Italy continues to be an active participant in a debate that sheds light on the fact that the transition is not only energy-related, but also an economic, financial, social and cultural one.
A new start for post-pandemic tourism
The pandemic crisis now under way is only the latest chronologically since 9/11, the Arab Spring, the 2008 financial downturn and Brexit; not to mention climate change, which acts as a sort of umbrella for all recent emergencies.
Making the most of Italy’s energy resources
Wealth creation, energy demand and CO2 emissions continued even through 2018, building on the trend of the previous year. With every day that passes, the problem of reducing emissions becomes more urgent and its complexity more evident. A complexity that began to emerge at the very beginning of annual emission measurement but that does not offer a holistic rendering of the phenomenon.
The circular economy and sustainable development
Italy is, by far, leader of Europe’s circular economy, recuperating double the European average of raw material, much more than the Germans in all sectors, but especially in hypercompetitive ones such as wood/furniture. Much needs to be improved, however, in the proper management of every phase of the waste cycle (from collection to recovery to disposal) which is an integral part of the circular economy. A single southern Italian region – Sardinia – reports recycling and reuse percentages far above the European average.
Infrastructure and sustainable mobility
The theme of mobility is central to current reflections on economic development, and considerations on the mobility of persons and goods – to which approximately 29% of global CO2 emissions can be attributed – is a special focus.
Efficiency, innovation and sustainability in the water industry
Water is an undeniable human right essential to the life and health of all citizens. Its distribution, however, is a complex process that presupposes the existence of a proper industrial sector equipped to deliver it from the supply source to the private home while maintaining high standards of quality and service.
Making the most of Italy’s energy resources
Discussions at this roundtable kicked off with the observation that global economic growth, which has been particularly strong over the past year, has brought with it well-known benefits in terms of development (helping to combat extreme poverty, for instance), yet it has also marked a reversal in the trend of CO2 atmospheric emissions, which, after having stabilized for a three-year period, are rising again at a rate of around 1.5%. This once again poses the question of what measures are needed to decouple growth from emissions.
Shifting to sustainable transportation in Italy: social and economic consequences
The participants at this roundtable noted that there is practically unanimous consensus on the need to rise to the challenge of achieving eco-sustainable mobility, a necessary objective in order to meet the Paris Agreement’s target of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C. The issue was viewed as one primarily concerning the health of both the present generation and the next.
Innovation to boost competitiveness in agriculture
The participants at this national roundtable described Italian agriculture as a sector which, although growing, is still replete with shortcomings. The industry has shown that it can shift exports of over 41 billion euro, but this is still not in the league of Germany’s 80 billion euro figure. It was felt that the sector continues to suffer from insufficient competitiveness, due mainly to a lack of investment and innovation.
Efficiency and sustainability: key challenges for modern cities
The starting premise of debate at this National Interest event was that cities are the place where the future of humanity is set to play out, not just because – for the first time in history – the majority of the world’s population lives in urban areas, but also because the latter will become increasingly pivotal to ensuring the sustainability of development models.