A 'Green New Deal' for Italy starting with the big cities, as hubs of the economy and places of culture. Cities, hosting 68% of the Italian population, can become the key to made in Italy sustainability and can take advantage of technological innovation to restore the role of protagonists to citizens.
È this is a crucial point, which emerged from the Report on the Green Economy 2013, a text presented this morning to Enea and edited by the Foundation for Sustainable Development and Enea.
The Enea Commissioner, Giovanni Lelli, declared that "the green economy can represent the key to starting a new development cycle under the banner of sustainability and technological innovation with long-term effects ranging from environmental protection to revival of industry and employment. With eco-innovation, urban areas can be transformed, making them centers of sustainable economic results and, at the same time, ideal places for the civil growth of citizens”.
Instead, Roberto Coizet, President of Edizione Ambiente, who spoke during the meeting, focused on the concept of 'deal'. “The social pact, as a collective enterprise, must be the main object of politics”. And he concluded: "Without a social pact, the natural heritage cannot be safeguarded".
The first part of the report addresses the international scene, starting with a historical-economic excursus that from the 29 crisis reaches the present day and provides a broad illustration of the proposals for a Green New Deal formulated by Unep and the OECD perspectives for the affirmation of the green economy in Europe, as well as Italy's difficulties and potential, taking into consideration the needs for public and private investments, the effects on employment and the indispensable reforms.
The second part of the Report focuses on the Italian reality and on the so-called 'smart cities'. In Italy, 68 percent of the population lives in an urban environment, where on average 75 percent of waste is produced, and homes consume 30 to 60 percent more energy than the EU average.
Roberto Morabito, President of the Environmental Technologies Technical Unit, ENEA, underlined in his speech a further problem in Italy, that of urban mobility: Italy, after Luxembourg, has the highest motorization rate. “Electric mobility, compared to the traditional one, would bring advantages both in terms of costs and emissions”. And he added: "redesigning cities in a sustainable key improves the quality of life".
In short, a change is needed to implement a real 'green economy'.
According to Edo Ronchio, president of the foundation for sustainable development, the keystone lies in "changing the economic paradigm, rethinking the fundamental pillars of the economy" such as, for example, the idea of well-being, work and financial systems.
We need a collective effort capable of channeling scarce resources and investing them in a Green New Deal, a pact oriented towards an efficient, inclusive, participatory and sustainable green economy.
