Italy cuts emissions by half what it should

From 2015 to 2024, Italy achieved an average annual cut in greenhouse gases of 7 million tons. To reach its objective, set by the national energy plan, the Pniec 2030, Italy would have to cut them by 14 million tonnes per year from 2026, double what has been done in recent years. In 2025, greenhouse gas emissions increased, and in 2026 they are decreasing slightly. This is supported by the Report for the States General of the Green Economy, organized by the Edo Ronchi Sustainable Development Foundation at the Ecomondo fair in Rimini.

According to research, Italy's climate commitment is inadequate. Continuing in this way, the country will not reach the 2030 Pniec target.

Italy, we read in the report, is at the center of the climate hot-spot of the Mediterranean basin, and is particularly exposed to the impacts of the climate crisis. Over the last 50 years the average temperature has increased by more than 2°C, much more than the global average.

The red dot, which indicates a health emergency even for healthy people and dangerous impacts for vulnerable subjects, in the summer of 2026 simultaneously and prolongedly affected cities throughout Italy, with a diffusion and duration never seen in previous years. In 2025, over 2,300 extreme climate events were recorded.

With the Pnrr, climate adaptation measures have been implemented in many cities. Climate refuges are spreading.

They are often accompanied with measures to mitigate heat islands.

We highlight the interventions for "sponge cities", to absorb and manage intense rainwater with de-waterproofed surfaces, preferably green; accumulating them in designated areas - urban and peri-urban (tanks, lakes, wetlands) - so that they are also reusable in periods of water scarcity and help mitigate the effects of heat islands.