The disappointment of the G7 in Taormina on the crucial aspects of the environment and immigration is still alive. Whether or not Donald Trump will withdraw from the Paris Pact will be seen in the next few hours or days, but it is certain that the US president, in Sicily, has not even tried to reduce his manifest skepticism and detachment from the COP 21 agreements. that Angela Merkel no longer considers him a reliable ally and Europe, says the chancellor, had better take destiny into its own hands. With these premises, talking about the G7 Environment seems like a mission impossible. Nevertheless Minister Gian Luca Galletti does not give up: "Italy and Europe will go ahead in pursuing the Paris Agreements. Because they have signed an agreement and there is an ethical-moral principle to be respected; but not only for this. Because we, who have had environmental and even economic policies for some time, have understood that it is better to do them. Today – continued Galletti – during this crisis, the only companies that have produced more turnover and more jobs are those of the green economy. And in the future, in the fourth industrial revolution, environmental policies will be the ones that will make companies more competitive”.
Will it therefore be the push of the market and finance, which has already begun to shift its interest from the fossil economy to the renewable one, to displace Trump? Partly it's already happening because investments in the green economy are already growing significantly in the US itself: Tesla has surpassed Ford, by market capitalization. And California has adopted European standards. But if the economy seems determined to get on the green locomotive, the political battle is still in full swing across the Atlantic. What will be the contribution of G7 Environment, with Italian presidency, scheduled for 11 and 12 June in Bologna? Minister Galletti presented it on Monday in Rome and underlined that "Italy is a 'superpower' of biodiversity and it is our primary interest to encourage a productive reconversion centered on the circular economy and better management of the earth's resources" . “This is an opportunity – adds Galletti – to launch some proposals for economic and fiscal cuts. I think for example a a European environmental Marshall Plan for Africa, with the aim of promoting sustainable economic growth in the sub-Saharan area, with the consequent positive effects also on the social and employment level and of migration containment. In addition, an 'environmental New Deal' based on cutting subsidies that are "harmful" to the environment and the consequent relocation of the relief to sustainable entrepreneurial investments must be put in place. At the Italian level, I think it is appropriate prepare a 'green tax package' which includes, for example, a cutting the tax wedge for green jobs".
To prepare for the meeting of G7 environment ministers, Bologna will become for one week, by 5 12 to June precisely, the "world capital" of the Environment with a series of events, about seventy in all, coordinated under the logo #ALL4THEGREEN. There are not a few companies (in addition to institutions, universities, associations) that have decided to "put their face on": Eni with its action plan, wanted by CEO Claudio Descalzi, for the reduction of CO2 emissions, promotion of the use of gas and development of renewables; Edison – explains the director of Energy Services Paolo Quaini – supports the Bologna event “not only to carry out projects but also to build more integrated systems and which take into account all possible paths, even those furthest from tradition but which are those required by the dynamic of the modern world which is in extreme evolution". And the colossus Unilever (169.000 employees worldwide), explains the CEO for Italy Angelo Trocchia "in the belief that sustainability is the only way forward to create value" has changed its way of doing business. Now the group of 400 brands has the goal of halving the environmental impact of its products by 2030; improve the living and health conditions "of millions of people by 2020". For the Conai – the Italian consortium that deals with the recycling and recovery of waste in Italy with over 900.000 member companies and which in 2016 recycled 3,2 million packaging collected with urban waste sorting – the G7 Environment will be an opportunity to take stock of the transition to a model in which waste is a resource”, says the president Roberto De Santis. It is the theme of the circular economy that Galletti intends to bring to the table of the Greats by deploying an advanced and sustainable Italy with groups such as Terna (10 billion spent on the integration of electricity grids in Italy and Europe) or pioneering companies such as Novamont (compostable bags).
The other topics to be discussed will be the commitments of the UN agenda for sustainable development, the fight against marine pollution, green finance and, of course, climate commitments. But on the latter, the road will not be downhill.
