It is the best and most authoritative support for the ecological transition of the government of Mario Draghi. The amendment to articles 9 and 41 of the Constitution with the introduction of the protection of the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems "also in the interest of future generations", marks the redemption of good politics. After the Senate approved the text on November 3, 2021, the Chamber voted it in second reading vast majority with only one vote against and six abstentions. It matters little that the party of Giorgia Meloni has left his deputies free to vote, perhaps because the right still does not have a precise idea of what it means to commit to the health of the planet. From today the new rules are in force and no referendum – even if not foreseen – will be able to change them.
the laughcimpact on the economy
The Constitution has incorporated the meaning and commitment of years-long battles that have seen parties and movements move from one side to the other, without ever reaching an effective and lasting synthesis. Yesterday it finally arrived. "It is an act of intergenerational justice," said the minister Enrico Giovannini, while the colleague Roberto Cingolani in Parliament he testified to "the presence of the government that believes in this change". Italy has accomplished a decisive step forward, but rhetoric must not replace pragmatism. Once the emphasis has passed, the new principles of article 9, and above all those of article 41, will have to find concrete application. In everyday life, in the decisions and behaviors of the Public Administration, in the economic system. “Private economic initiative is free. It cannot take place in conflict with social utility or in such a way as to cause damage to safety, freedom, human dignity, health or the environment." says the new article. Ordinary laws will have to establish how and what to do so that economic activities are directed and coordinated to "social and environmental purposes".
The environment and economic growth
We are in the midst of an energy crisis that is bringing the country to its knees in the same months in which spending on regeneration and alternative energies is being planned. Nothing is taken for granted, because the path to get to more acceptable levels of sustainability amenvironmental, of lowering harmful emissions, of impacts on health, is long. Debates are ignited around the forms and intermediate stages to achieve goals set worldwide.
In the country there are dozens of companies grappling with restructuring and activities with an impact on the environment. The vast majority of Italians are pro-European but there are still those who contest choices regarding research and support useful for managing the transition. Will they continue to deviate from the new principles? After the amendments to the Constitution we must rather work for a new and lasting social pact which concretely recognizes the value of the environment without separating it from economic and social growth. From industry, to trade unions, to environmental associations, good will is needed to hold development paradigms together for a community which, after the years of the economic boom and industrialisation, must look ahead with greater serenity. In the end, the new constitutional norms do justice to many errors of the past, so that the new pact, if it takes place, doesn't even need to be written.
