| | | Going Green in Italy

From WikiVerde

Italy Moves with the Times

All over the world, nations are becoming more conscious of green issues and taking environmental concerns seriously. Governments are implementing rules and enacting laws to prevent degradation of our environment, social organisations are doing their best to educate people and inculcate a sense of ecological responsibility in them and individuals are making sincere efforts to do their bit for the environment.

Italy is no exception to this worldwide awareness and global attempts to improve the current ecological situation. There are many initiatives that have been undertaken by this country and they are well worth examining and emulating in our own countries, wherever possible.

1 Green Power in Italy
2 Policy & Planning
3 Interesting Green Initiatives in Italy
4 Green Fighters
5 Investment in a Green Future
6 References

Green Power in Italy

For instance, there is the CLEAN-E project which is trying to create new green power labels under the Eugene Standard. Italy, along with Spain and France are among the main countries which will undertake the CLEAN-E project. The Eugene Standard is a set of standards that ensure the ecological soundness of green energy products. It encourages green energy and sustainable energy best practices. The CLEAN-E project’s role is to direct nations to the end of achieving the Eugene Standard. This project is gaining ground in Italy, as consumers become aware of the value of using an energy product that comes up to the Eugene Standard.

Italy’s Bollino Verde, the chief green power label in the country, will also be upgraded closer to the Eugene Standard. The authorities are hoping to introduce a points system which will encourage power standards to reach the Eugene level.

Policy & Planning

It’s interesting to examine the underlying basics of Italian environmental policy. The levels of ecological awareness in Italy exceed the European average, perhaps because of the country’s magnificent heritage. Italians naturally cherish this valuable heritage, and perhaps it is this attitude that they bring to the conservation of the earth’s natural resources as well. Historically, Italy was one of the first nations to create national parks – in the 1940s - thus taking the first tentative steps towards ecological conservation. Even in 1947, environmental issues were a part of the country’s constitution.

In Italy, putting the principles of sustainability into practical use is not easy, especially at the provincial and municipal levels, since conditions in each area are different, and policies, resources and knowledge are not synchronized. Now, a comparative approach called Ecopaese has been introduced which will gather data and apply it to environments in different regions. This is hoped to have a better chance of success.

There are several powerful environmental activist groups in Italy as well, who play a significant part in the formulation of Italy’s environmental policy. Actually, it is only recently that the country’s environmental policy started taking a definite shaping and moving towards a specific direction. A Ministry of the Environment was created in 1986, which developed three year Environmental Plans, starting from 1990. These Plans synchronize the work of various government environmental agencies and manages funds used for environmental purposes. The Ministry has also instituted a ten year Environmental Plan, called the "Piano Decenale per l'Ambiente".

In co-operation with the Ministry of Universities and Research, the Ministry of Environment launched an initiative in 1989 to research several areas such as clean technology development, waste management, the ecological impact of agricultural and industrial activities, reduction of emissions from transport, as well as energy and the drinking water supply.

Italian environmental policy is based on stringent tenets of individual responsibility and rigid enforcement. Environmental offenders are severely punished and made to bear the costs of their actions, such as pollution by a ship, or hazardous effluent dumped by a factory.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle…

Italians have begun to sincerely follow the three Rs of conservation – reduce, reuse and recycle. Separating garbage and trying to recycle instead of wasting has become a habit with the general public.

Interesting Green Initiatives in Italy

In an unusual form of cooperation between educational institutions, five Italian universities came together in 1993 to create the Interuniversity National Consortium "Chemistry for the Environment" (INCA). Research in environment conservation, particularly in Green Chemistry, would be coordinated among Ca’ Foscari in Venice, Lecce, Milano, Firenze, and La Tuscia Viterbo. By 1995, the number of universities involved had risen to 31, and today there are more than 30, with 80 research units.

The Italians’ first “Car-Free” day was held in Florence, with not a single vehicle on the roads. The idea behind this was to make people aware of the advantages of using the public transport system, and to see how attractive a city centre without traffic could be.

Italy offers a fascinating option for young green enthusiasts – a chance to get some hands-on work done on an environmental project. This includes programmes like the park development projects in Verona, the conservation of the beauty of parks around Lake Maggiore in Lombardia.

Green Fighters

There have been many instances of people rising up against the authorities to support an environmental cause. In Venaus, for example, villagers in this Alpine valley protested against the construction of a pan-European high-speed freight line. They felt the environmental damage done to their valley would be incalculable.

Investment in a Green Future

Italy is obviously looking ahead as far as the environment is concerned. The country plans to invest approximately 500 million Euros in countries such as India, Brazil, Argentina and China. This money will go into CDM (Clean Development Projects) in these nations, as long as the projects have low greenhouse gas emissions and meet other ecological recommendations.

Italy is also involved in a project with Egypt, which has the aim of increasing ecological awareness among young students. The project focuses particularly on health issues among other environmental concerns.

In addition, the Ministry of the Environment and Territory (IMET) has started an initiative in coordination with State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) of China. This initiative will develop projects on environmental protection – such as air quality improvement, ecological conservation, and the development of sustainable agriculture. Now, CDM projects are also in the pipeline.