In Italy, the per capita cost of environmental damage is among the highest in the EU: € 41.45 per citizen

The perception of an increasingly unbreathable air and local governments that do little to reverse the phenomenon, the certainty of climate change that is increasingly an economic problem. Global warming and Italy, climate and Italians, coexistence is anything but simple. Meanwhile, because extreme phenomena such as floods, floods, droughts, tornadoes and the like weigh on the wallet like few others in Europe. In 2020 alone, the cost per inhabitant for damage from bad weather and crazy weather was 41.45 euros. A higher bill than this was recorded only in Greece, France and Finland. Italy is therefore among the EU member states to have suffered the greatest economic losses due to damage caused to climate change, and it must also thank that things went better than expected, because in 2019 the economic losses were 80 euros. per citizen, 85 euros in 2018, and even 196 euros per person in 2017.

Between 2010 and 2020, Eurostat notes, the damage from extreme phenomena linked to climate change cost the EU 145 billion euros, for an average of over 14 and a half billion euros to cope with the fallout from the crazy climate. The bill for the Italian system was 35.6 billion euros in the same period. Data that does not take into account this year’s drought, as the data is updated to 2020. Net of this outdated account and which for Italy risks turning into something even more onerous, the European Statistical Institute notes that “the thirty-year average of climate-related economic losses shows a clear trend, increasing by almost 2% per year over the last decade”. It means that the phenomenon is growing, it is constant, and it appears irreversible. A call to politics, for actions of prevention, mitigation, and adaptation.

The not at all benevolent economic certainties weighing on the finances of government and local authorities are accompanied by impressions and concerns about an air quality seen in continuous deterioration. The recently published Eurobarometer survey finds that six out of ten Italian men and women (60%) believe that the situation has “worsened” in the last ten years. The culprit of all this? Politics. Seven out of ten people (69%) point the finger at public authorities, guilty of not doing enough to reverse the trend. A situation that throws Italians into apprehension and worry, given that practically all (95%) see polluted and unbreathable air as a health problem, particularly cardiovascular and asthma problems.

Net of the perception of the problem, Italians do little. Only 29% of respondents admit that they frequently use public transport or prefer walking instead of a car. But almost half of the respondents (48%) admit to having changed old appliances with high energy consumption. One way to reduce CO2, no doubt. But not to reduce other substances such as nitrogen oxides (Nox) and particulate matter (Pm10 and Pm2.5).