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CLIMATE CRISIS

Italy must learn to cope with drought-inducing weather: minister

Italy's long-running drought is caused by climate change and the country must adjust to this new reality, Italy's agriculture minister said in an interview published on Monday.

Published: 8 May 2023 17:03 CEST
Italy's Lake Garda hit by severe drought
Italy's largest lake, Lake Garda, this year registered its lowest wintertime water levels in 35 years. Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP

After heavy rain following another spell of drought resulted in deadly flooding in northern Italy last week, Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said Italy must adapt its infrastructure to cope with the changing climate – but said CO2-reduction measures would be too damaging to Italian industry.

Lollobrigida told news agency Reuters Italy needed to build more reservoirs to hold water reserves, urgently patch up leaky pipelines, repair dams, and consider moving some types of crops away from increasingly arid areas.

“The drought is not a [one-off] emergency, it is linked to climate change,” said Lollobrigida, a senior member of the ruling, far-right Brothers of Italy party.

Italy suffered its most severe drought in 70 years in 2022, and a dry winter has raised fears that 2023 could be even worse.

“We must consume water better in agriculture, invest in research, use new drip irrigation methods and underground irrigation, and be organised to use every drop of water in the best way without any dispersion,” Lollobrigida told Reuters.

READ ALSO: Climate crisis: Italy records ‘five times’ more extreme weather events in ten years

He said leaky pipes were a major problem, with 41.2 percent of water lost from the national network on average before reaching the taps. By comparison, Germany had a water dispersion rate of 6.5 percent, the minister said.

Italy’s worst drought in 70 years in 2022 devastated rice fields and other crops in northern Italy with estimated losses of over 30 percent of the harvest. Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP

Another solution would be to repair dozens of Italy’s nearly 530 dams that had fallen into disrepair, he said, estimating that 30 percent of the country’s dams were obstructed.

“We have a water catchment of just 11 percent and therefore we do not keep rainwater,” he said.

READ ALSO: No more ‘dolce vita’: How extreme weather could change Italian tourism forever

He added that precipitation had not radically decreased, but came in shorter, sharper bursts, as happened last week, when heavy rain caused severe flooding which left two people dead in the Emilia Romagna region.

Severe rainfall meant rivers in the region overflowed, causing damage to property and agriculture. About 450 people were evacuated from their homes.

The violent storms, far from bringing relief from the drought, worsened the situation as flood water damaged vineyards and farmland, according to the Coldiretti agricultural association.

Despite acknowledging that drought was caused by climate change, the minister reportedly brushed aside criticism that the government had sought to block EU efforts to cut carbon emissions.

Rescuers stand by a stranded truck following deadly floods in near Ravenna, on May 3rd, 2023. (Photo by STRINGER / ANSA / AFP)

In recent months, Italy has been pushing the European Union to weaken a directive aimed at improving the energy efficiency of buildings, and has questioned a push to reduce industrial emissions.

The Italian government has also pushed back against plans to phase out diesel and petrol cars by 2035, with ministers saying Italy is too far “behind” in the transition to electric vehicles to be able to meet this deadline.

“I think we need to be more pragmatic and less ideological,” Lollobrigida told Reuters, suggesting CO2-reduction measures such as those proposed at an EU level run the risk of turning Italian industry “into a desert”.

In April, the government appointed a commissioner to lead a drought task force of senior officials from various ministries.

The Italian government has not yet announced any concrete measures to tackle droughts and the other effects of the increasing number of extreme weather events hitting Italy.

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ENVIRONMENT

OPINION: Why Italy lags behind Europe on green policies – and things aren’t changing

With climate protests by young Italians and talk of clean energy policy, will Italy finally change its ways and catch up with other European countries? Silvia Marchetti argues a much bigger cultural shift is needed before Italy could truly go green.

Published: 16 May 2024 10:50 CEST
OPINION: Why Italy lags behind Europe on green policies - and things aren't changing

There’s a lot of talk about environmental-friendly practices and spreading awareness on climate change, but I must admit Italians are perhaps the least eco-conscious of all Europeans. 

We struggle to keep up with the rest of Europe. From buying more bottled water than almost any other country to repeatedly delaying a ‘plastic tax’ and dumping on beaches and in parks, it’s part of a general cultural attitude which has very little ‘green’ in it, even though the pandemic and soaring energy costs have pushed a minority of Italians to become perhaps a bit more careful. 

Too many Italians just have that ‘che me ne frega’ approach (meaning ‘I really don’t care’), which gets on my nerves and is quite ingrained in the general mentality. 

When I used to live in Holland back in 2002, there were drinking water fountains everywhere, people filled their own portable insulated bottles which were not made of plastic, and which seemed to me so cool and fashionable.

While in Rome we have the famous fontanoni (historical water spouts), locals either use their hands to drink, or still buy glass and plastic cups and bottles to fill and then throw away. 

When it comes to recycling waste, only half of Italy does it properly, while the Baltic countries are the most efficient waste-wise among the 27 members of the European Union. 

I live north of Rome, in the countryside, and differentiated waste disposal services arrived in my comune just six years ago, while at my seaside house south of the capital, this happened only last year. In Rotterdam, where I lived during university, citizens had been recycling waste since at least a decade earlier. 

READ ALSO: Why Trento is ranked as Italy’s ‘greenest’ place to live

Some 25 years ago, when I was in Geneva, people walking their dogs would scoop up their pets’ poo with recyclable gloves and place it in neat plastic bags; that’s something you’d see hardly anyone do even nowadays in Italy.

I’m at times ashamed of saying so, but we have really bad habits – like keeping the tap water running even when you don’t need it, such as during one-hour showers or while brushing teeth, turning the lights on at night in the garden when everyone is at home and no guests are expected, and buying endless motorini (scooters) for the kids and then one car per adult family member.

The Italian love of cars results in heavy traffic and dangerous levels of pollution – but will this ever change? (Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP)

I think this is all due to the fact that most Italians are very showy, even in energy consumption. Keeping house lights or car usage down to a minimum would imply to neighbors a state of precarious wealth, if not almost poverty. 

There’s another factor that plays a major role. Italy, as opposed to other European countries, has always heavily relied on gas and oil consumption, not on alternative green energy that still sounds quite futuristic. This dependency on fossil fuels will likely lead to our demise if we don’t act.

READ ALSO: Italians and their cars are inseparable – will this ever change?

The post-pandemic funds given by the European Union should boost investments in alternative and green energy, but the effects will only be seen in the long run.

In order to have a positive impact, the money must be efficiently spent. Almost 37 percent of a total €191 billion of European aid is expected to go into funding green investments in Italy over the next few years. 

But it all reads very vague at the moment, and I’m afraid the Italian approach might change only slightly, no matter the ambitious government plans. It’s more wishful thinking. 

In the rest of Europe children are taught about climate change and how to adopt good practices in everyday life. I have friends in Belgium whose kids read about recycling plastic and reducing weekly the number of plastic water bottles they buy.

READ ALSO: What is it with Italians and bottled water?

In order to have a radical change in Italians’ attitudes, environmental awareness must be spread inside schools and among children. It really depends on the future generations.

The younger generations, born in an era already marred by environmental damage, are the only ones in Italy who can really ‘go green’ in everything they do and consume.

Recent protests by student climate change activists in Italy, even if small compared to those staged across Europe, are a sign of a changing mentality among youth.

But in order to further spread awareness, a more pro-environmental education is paramount.

Unfortunately though, there is no political debate around improving education on environmental issues in Italy, mainly due to a lack of political wisdom or forward-looking strategy.

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