• Climate: April 2020 like 2016, the hottest ever recorded

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03 June 2020 The temperature rises in Italy more than in other parts of the world. In 2018 there was an average anomaly of +1.71 degrees compared to the climatological average 1961-1990, higher than the global one on dry land (+0.98 degrees). This was revealed by the 2019 Environmental Data Yearbook of Ispra (the study center of the Ministry of the Environment), presented today in streaming in the presence of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, the Minister of the Environment, Sergio It costs. 

In particular, an increase in the average temperature of around 0.38 ° C was calculated every ten years in the period 1981-2018. Element that leads Italy to move away from the objectives of contrasting climate change. New peak for the temperature of the Italian seas in 2018 (+ 1.08 ° C), the second after 2015, compared to the period 1961-1990.

In the first quarter of this year, a reduction in greenhouse gases of 5.5% is estimated for 2020 , against a cyclical change in GDP of -4.7%. In 2018 the decrease had been 0.9% compared to the previous year, and for 2019 the trend is a reduction of 2.0% compared to 2018. Greenhouse gas emissions in Italy decreased by 17.2% in the medium period (1990-2018).

The share of energy from renewable sources is 18.3% compared to gross final consumption, a value higher than the 17% target to be reached by 2020. The next target to be reached is 32% by 2030.

The Po Valley is one of the areas where air pollution is heaviest in Europe. Looking at the 2019 data, the daily limit value of PM10 was exceeded in 21% of the monitoring stations (50 micrograms per cubic meter, not to be exceeded more than 35 times a year). Instead, comply with the limits for PM2.5 in most detection stations. One of the effects of the lockdown was the reduction of nitrogen dioxide between 40 and 50% in the northern regions and in the Po Valley.

As regards electromagnetic pollution , between July 2018 and September 2019 the cases of exceeding the legal limits increased (+ 6%) both for radio and television systems (RTV) and for SRB - Radio Base Stations of mobile telephony ( + 4%). For ELF sources (low frequency, i.e. power lines and household appliances) the data are substantially unchanged. As regards chemicals, pesticides are the main concern: in surface waters 24.4% of the points monitored show concentrations above the environmental quality limits. 6% in groundwater. The EU is the world's second largest producer of chemicals after China. Italy is the third largest European producer, after Germany and France, with more than 2,800 active companies and 110,000 employees.

Compared to Europe, Italy grows much more in the circular use of materials. It is third in the European Union for the so-called "resource productivity", the index that describes the relationship between the gross domestic product and the quantity of materials used. For urban waste, production for 2019 is estimated to be equal to that of 2018, while the scenarios for 2020 identify a drop, in line with the decrease in GDP of 4.7%.

Land use advanced in Italy at a rate of 2 square meters per second between 2017 and 2018, cementing or asphalting 23,000 km2. Although the phenomenon showed signs of slowing down, probably due to the economic situation, since 2018 land consumption has started to grow again. In 2018, 2% of protected areas were also subtracted. The Italian territory is highly exposed to hydrogeological instability. The population at risk of landslides residing in areas of 'high and very high danger' amounts to 1,281,970 inhabitants, equal to 2.2% of the total.

In Italy the situation is "serious for fauna and flora , threatened by pollution and alien species". With its 60 thousand animal and 12 thousand plant species, Italy is one of the European countries richest in biodiversity in Europe and with very high levels of endemism (exclusive species of our territory). However, a heritage that "sees high levels of threat to flora and fauna". 

Conte, great attention to green new deal issues
"Attention to the environment plays a decisive role. This government was born with policies on sustainable development and environmental protection at the center". Said the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte.

 "We have paid great attention to the Green New Deal, therefore in investing in clean energy and renewable energy towards the energy transition. We are perfectly aware that we have a great historical responsibility, that of directing the production system towards this transition", he explained. "A transition from an epochal scale that requires many costs and risks being very demanding from an economic point of view, even if the benefits are significant. I must say that in this we are in great harmony also with the policy that was announced at the beginning of this new European legislature from the new Commission, "he noted.