Jeremy Rifkin: “The Meloni government risks hindering the ecological transition in Europe”

Jeremy Rifkin is very worried about post-election Italy. The cancellation of the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MITE) in the organization chart of the new government, with the competences confusedly scattered among half a dozen other departments, risks having catastrophic consequences in a chain, not only on our country: “Italy is central to Europe has been so since the dawn of the European community prophesied by Altiero Spinelli “, says the sustainability guru in this interview via Zoom from his Washington office.

“It is as if the dream of a united continent reaching out towards a common effort on the main emergency for humanity, the fight against climate change, which has become one of Europe’s priorities after so many years, has been betrayed”. Certainly it does not help the clumsy European debut of the new Minister of the Environment, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, nor the presence of Roberto Cingolani as a director given the limited duration of his mandate (six months), and the subjects on which he must “advise” : storage, price cup, regasification plants, electricity price decoupling.

Professor, what will happen at this point to the 71.2 billion that Europe has assigned us as a share of the NextGenEu for the transition, 37.2% of the total or the largest share of the NRP?
“The European Union could slow down the payment of the next installments, which as you will easily understand could damage the efforts made so far and place a serious risk on the achievement of the objectives of reducing emissions, but above all of reconversion from fossil fuels to renewable energy, which it is already very late due to the war, the persistent and pounding activity of the oil lobby, and other world emergencies “.

For this was an organic structure, broad, with distributed competences and assigned responsibilities such as the one that had been put together with the previous government, essential? Are there now risks of consequences for Europe as well?
“Of course. Italy is a very important part of Europe, which cannot go anywhere without Italy. To keep pace, it is essential to implement institutional changes at the national government level that lead to streamlining procedures and simplifying procedures. authorizations for solar and wind power plants, for the development of renewable energy microgrids, for electric vehicles, for the renovation of residential and commercial buildings that make them more resistant to climatic disasters. governance focused on environmental issues, even supranational where common characteristics exist: what I call ‘bio-regions’. At the local level, then, to manage ecosystems, regions and municipalities throughout Italy should create real assemblies of citizens who work alongside local governments to assist and coordinate interventions especially on the occasion of unfortunate natural events. These assemblies will participate in the recovery and reconstruction of infrastructures, this time resilient, able to face the dramatic escalation of floods, fires, droughts, heat waves. In short, all the consequences of climate change “.

Should the funds of the NRP be used for all this?
“Certainly. Huge European funds attributed to the Italian government will have to be allocated to each region, and the regions in turn, with the help of the citizens ‘assemblies I mentioned, will make the transition from the’ age of progress ‘to’ age of resilience ‘and will prepare a better future for their fellow citizens “.

Another novelty is the energy communities. Even in Italy, despite the usual regulatory difficulties, there are starting to be some. Am I a good role model?
“Yes. They are mini-energy grids, at levels that can range from a large condominium to a small municipality, able to function on their behalf even if there is a general blackout because they are powered by their own renewable energy sources. They can also contribute. to the national grid in conditions of surplus energy production. These are local initiatives, but a government stimulus is essential: an input at the central level is also important to promote a great collective effort, with operational commissions, involving the university, managers, the local administrators who are also responsible for managing a large part of the funds: all reaching out towards the goal. Instead, delays accumulate with other delays “.

Is there still time to recover?
“Sure, but not much. Allow me to make a strong request to your premier Giorgia Meloni (pronounced perfectly, ed) to restore as soon as possible a government structure equipped with adequate means and dedicated to combating climate change. I remind you that we are talking about the main threat to the survival of our species. Haven’t we seen enough disasters caused by this upheaval of nature around the world? Not surprisingly, they are even realizing this in the financial community, where funds are divesting fossil fuel companies from companies. Some far-sighted foreign experiences can be of guidance. For example, it could be beneficial to learn in this area from China, which has also just renewed the government. “

Just China, universally considered the biggest polluter on the planet?
“China is in the midst of an accelerated transformation that takes it out of fossil fuels, and has installed more solar and wind power plants than any other country. I am speaking from firsthand experience because in the past nine years I have served as advisor for the Beijing government precisely on their ambitious ecological recovery plans. China is taking a leading role in the “green” transformation of the economy and is making gigantic efforts to restore its ecosystems. “

So why did you ask for a ten-year extension, from 2050 to 2060, to achieve climate neutrality?
“This time schedule shows how serious their intentions are for the actual achievement of the objectives, which they wanted to make more realistic. However, I think that in the end they will be able to reach” zero emissions “sooner than expected, probably around 2050 like Europe. . I assure you that China’s commitment to ecological transition is strong, as President Xi Jinping himself assured at the party congress a few days ago. We are talking about a country of 1.4 billion inhabitants with immense territorial extensions and large excursions. climate: I repeat, the country will make the necessary investments and will be ready for what has been defined as “ecological civilization”, without delay and regardless of the intrinsic difficulty of the project. And this will be a great turning point for all humanity, committed to transition from the era of progress to the era of resilience “.