ROME. In terms of energy transition, “we are far behind, in terms of culture and awareness, decision-making tools, training of public executives, managers, executives, operational figures, and in the general availability of the productions necessary for this Green Revolution that we have just started and which constitutes a a qualifying element also of the confidence requested and obtained in Parliament by Mario Draghi ». To list these shortcomings and to recall the urgency of the commitments undertaken by Italy and the entire international community is Francesco Rutelli, former secretary of the Radical Party, leader of the Greens and Margherita, mayor of Rome and several times minister and vice-president of the Council , today president of Anica. Always militant in the ecological battle and president of the Center for a Sustainable Future.
“We are behind – listed Rutelli – not only in the production of offshore wind turbines or batteries for electric cars, but also in the design and infrastructure essential for the ecological transition”.
«I plunged back – he confides – into a subject that I have dealt with for decades because I realize that we are walking like sleepwalkers, waiting for events rather than anticipating and guiding them. This green transition is a challenge of immense difficulty and a great effort will have to be made to convince people who are afraid of change of its inevitability and economic convenience. The green revolution will also be a historic opportunity to create new and more qualified jobs, new technologies, new professionals and opportunities. We have to say it, repeat it until the message has been received by everyone: investing in the green is convenient ».
“On the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic – writes Rutelli in his speech -, two authoritative economists (and renowned for their attention to the climate issue) such as Nicholas Stern (LSE) and Andrew Oswald (Warwick University) have carried out an analysis on main 9 academic-scientific journals in the economic field at an international level, to verify how many articles had dedicated to the gigantic challenges – for economic science, as well as for the real economy – imposed by the need to combat Climate Change. The result, published in September 1919, is astounding: out of the 77 thousand articles surveyed, only 57 deal with this existential topic for mankind, and absolutely crucial for any prospective economic analysis. A percentage equal to 0.00074%. According to the British irony of the authors, “the reason there are few economists writing on climate change, we believe, is because other economists don’t write articles on climate change.”
«It is legitimate to expect – continues Rutelli – that political decisions and a new availability of resources for investments can guide a process of extraordinary acceleration, involving the production chains concerned. In Italy, we are aware of the potential and specific needs of crucial sectors such as agriculture and food, or fashion; in addition to the strategic interventions that will concern the energy sectors; and our manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, construction and public works, and so on. What further eludes us is the reason for Joe Biden’s recent statement that 50% of emissions reductions will come from technological innovations we don’t yet know about. It is a bold concept, which we also find in the IEA’s Net Zero by 2050 analysis: «Most of the global reductions in CO2 emissions on our way to 2030 result from technologies already available today. But in 2050, nearly half of the reductions will come from technologies that are currently in demonstration or prototype stages. To obtain such results, we can and must have faith in science, as evidenced by the exceptional speed – less than a year, compared to previous averages around 5 years – with which effective vaccines against COVID-19, potentially accessible, have been made available. for the whole of humanity. It is therefore a question of provoking and supporting a scientific breakthrough, of research, experimentation and development of new solutions in the face of new, disruptive global needs ».