Dispatch from Italy | January ‘25
*** Get a bird's-eye view of Italy’s climate-friendly transition in the 91tv Guide – Italy moves on green transition, but fossil fuel ties remain tight***
Stories to watch in the weeks ahead
- Bills are becoming more expensive - Energy costs at the beginning of 2025, in a situation reminiscent of the 2022 energy crisis. In the past three years, , and it produces only three billion of the 61 billion cubic metres of gas it consumes, the rest of which has to be imported. Rising prices on the international market will only exacerbate the economic difficulties of Italian companies. According to a report by CGIA, a network of small enterprises, – equivalent to 13.7 billion euros – in 2025 when compared to 2024. : Lombardia, Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Piemonte. Italy’s opposition leader, Elly Schlein of the centre-left Partito Democratico, has already : “The cost of energy in Italy is the highest in Europe, it is 30 percent higher than in Germany and twice as high as in Spain. Meloni has not said a word about the unsustainable bills for families and businesses.”
- Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies - in order to access Next Generation EU funds, Meeting this commitment, while trying to navigate the rising cost of energy, is a major political issue for the Meloni government. The environmental ministry told the European Commission, which could mean higher refueling costs passed on to companies and citizens at the pump. Before being elected, Giorgia Meloni she would not increase taxes on gasoline for drivers, but the commitments made by previous governments are binding and connected to European funds that Italy needs to access. , of which 17 billion go directly into supporting the use of fossil fuels.
- Too few Italian cars - The fate of the Italian automotive industry is another major concern in public debates. In 2024, Stellantis produced 283,090 cars, The sector’s poor results are having a knock-on effect for several industries adjacent to car manufacturing and are connected to the sector’s struggle to transition to electric vehicles (EVs). The company’s new COO, Jean Philippe Imparato, recently said " ". The Meloni government, however, Stellantis has asked the government to do more to grow the country’s EV charging infrastructure. “We need a strong development of the charging system. People want a nearby charging station, Imparato said. In Italy, there was compared to the same period in 2023, meaning there are now 60,000 public chargers in operation across the country. However, Italy is still well behind both (120,000) and (114,000).
The latest from Italy – last month in recap
The latest from Italy – last month in recap
- Two perspectives on energy and climate - Italy's top two political figures recently showed widely different approaches to the climate crisis and the country’s energy problems. When prime minister Meloni was asked at a press conference at the beginning of the year about the hike in energy costs expected in Italy, she chose not to say anything. ” she said. Meloni did not mention climate change in her conference at all. A few days before, during his year-end TV address, president Sergio Mattarella addressed global warming at length, saying he sees between growth in arms spending, triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the country’s climate action budget. “Defence spending has reached a record 2.4 billion dollars this year, eight times more than was allocated at the recent COP29 in Baku to combat climate change, a need which is vital to humanity," he said. Mattarella’s
- A homeless regasification ship - After a years-long political battle, the northern Liguria region of Italy has off the coast of Vado Ligure. The facility, offering the capacity to process five billion cubic metres of imported LNG per year, and was purchased from the state-controlled energy infrastructure company SNAM. It has been kept in the port of Piombino, Tuscany, since 2023, where it was met with upon arrival. The agreement with the city at the time was that the ship would stay there for three years and then be relocated to Liguria. Giovanni Toti, the local governor of Liguria at the time who agreed to host the ship there, has meanwhile been , and Finding another spot for Italis LNG will be difficult, as no other regions have said they are able to host the ship. In April, , Emilia-Romagna. The ship, BW Singapore, will also have a regasification capacity of five billion cubic metres per year.
- New power market rules - Since the beginning of 2025, the Italian power market has been operating under new rules, as there is no longer a single national energy price. Instead, , a move designed to lower wholesale energy costs. However, the mechanism will only work if Italy meets its targets for the installation of renewables, as the wholesale price is designed according to the price of the most expensive energy source (merit order), which currently happens to be gas almost everywhere in Europe. To meet targets for the expansion of renewables, the government must build more and .
Ferdinando’s picks - Highlights from upcoming events and top reads
Ferdinando’s picks - Highlights from upcoming events and top reads
- Climate storytelling at its finest - Well-known climate writer Fabio Deotto curated a collection of speculative nonfiction that will be published as a book, titled (How we will get out of this), and released on 5 February. A number of Italian writers (Claudia Durastanti, Vincenzo Latronico, Francesca Coin) and international writers (Sergio Del Molino, Meehan Crist, Omar El Akkad) try to imagine how essays would be written between 2030 and 2040 if we saved ourselves from the many crises we are experiencing today. It could bring environmental storytelling to a whole new level.
- Biodiversity diplomacy in Rome - From25-27 February, the headquarters of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will host the closing of COP16, the in early November in Cali, Colombia, due to a lack of a quorum. Italy has not hosted an environmental policy summit in decades, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the country will manage it. on in the Italian capital, such as the new resource mobilisation strategy to and to reduce harmful incentives by at least 500 billion dollars a year by 2030.
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