“Our 43 years of battles, the end of nuclear power is our greatest success”

On May 20, Legambiente blows out 43 candles. That of 1980 is considered the anniversary of the birth of the environmental association, yet for those who were there from the beginning – such as Hermes Realaccinow honorary president – the first real building block that gave life to what the movement is today is to be considered the 1983 congress, exactly forty years ago.

It was then that “Legambiente began to outline its identity”. Since then, from nuclear power to pollution, from plastic in the sea to pesticides, there have been a thousand battles, some victorious and others unsuccessful, but now the environmental question – also due to tragedies such as the flood that has just occurred in Emilia Romagna – it can no longer be ignored. “But to do so it must always be linked to the economy. Showing that taking care of the environment means economic advantage is our most current mission” explains Realacci, a former parliamentarian, historical memory of Legambiente and today president of the Symbola Foundation.

At the first congress in 1983 a slogan that is very current today – “Think globally and act locally” – but at the time it was something new.

“Yes, that, from a conceptual point of view, was the moment in which the character of Legambiente took shape. The slogan is truly very current. At the time, in Italy there was an environmentalist world above all conservationist, the idea was needed to broaden the gaze for understanding the natural interlocutors of environmentalism, including, for example, politics and the economy. And then putting people, local problems at the centre. Another step was the idea of ​​focusing on scientific environmentalism: analysis of problems and feasible solutions. Thus it was that Legambiente was born: a League that proposed courageous but feasible solutions to environmental problems”.

Was the nuclear battle the most important?
“The nuclear match was a turning point. First the demonstrations in Montalto in the 1970s, then our arrival: an environmentalism that crossed the choices of society and the economy. That push, to say no to power plants, in part called also a generation characterized by both scientific and political commitment.A bit like what happened in Germany for the Greens, at the beginning people who came from the movements of 1968. Something of the kind was missing in Italy and we helped to gather several people precisely around the anti-nuclear issue”.

After Chernobyl the association became more and more central. Was it then that you started inventing the concept of environmental “campaigns”?
“On certain issues, after Chernobyl, Legambiente naturally became a guide. We understood we had to give a signal that the country did not want nuclear power and that it wanted another way to fight social and environmental issues. We looked around us: Greenpeace, the rainbow warriors , was an organization with almost military actions, others, like the WWF, focused on animals and conservation. We had to do a mix of all that, but above all work on relationships. To succeed, and to win people’s attention, we thought to large campaigns to raise an issue, such as the Goletta Verde, or Puliamo il mondo. We were looking for new tools to speak to citizens”.

What other themes did you have at heart?
“Often those related to human activity. The theme of land consumption, for example, was central: we set it up in a technical and scientific way, through data, promoting effective communication with vision, numbers and stories. Showing overbuilding by translating the figures and content of science was important. And then urban pollution: catalytic converters, for example, or unleaded petrol. The Italy of industry resisted the green change for a while, but then gave in, as I believe will also happen now for electricity. Or eco-mafia, this theme was invented by us to talk about the environment and legality. We worked together with the carabinieri: it is no coincidence that the law on eco-crimes has my signature as its first signature”.

Can you tell us an anecdote from the past to understand how Legambiente was seen in the beginning?
“We tried to join the civil party in the maxi-trial for the mafia in Palermo, given that there was a link with illegal activity, the environment and control of public procurement and the mafia itself. When our name was also included in the list of possible civil parties, one of the mobsters in the gabion said ‘these don’t even want us to smoke’, just to understand how we were seen”.

Earlier he spoke of courage to change course. Can you give us an example of courage in environmental battles?
“Years ago, four establishments left the coast with ships to go offshore to unload waste and waste into the sea. We decided to launch an ad hoc campaign to denounce the fact. But it wasn’t enough, we also had to show. We didn’t have the means and we were a bit ridiculous, but we had courage.We left Romagna with two fishing boats to intercept a ship that had to unload: in the end it was a disaster, we made a mistake first by going towards a tanker that had nothing to do with the waste, then when we found the ship right we realized that it was so big that one of its waves was enough to make us capsize. As an action, it made us laugh, but the effect was there anyway: people became aware of the problem and opposed it and within a short time the polluting companies or closed or they stopped throwing garbage into the sea.”

In so many years of association, tell us a satisfaction and a regret.
“Many satisfactions. If I have to name just one, for me certainly the victory over nuclear energy. It was also a great favor to the Italian economy. It gave a boost to the solidity of Enel which today is so committed to renewables. At the same time the regret was that , after that victory, Italy was unable to look ahead. great revolution. I would add that often sometimes it is the environmental associations themselves who make mistakes, perhaps by opposing wind or solar energy projects for landscape issues, or sometimes out of stupidity – as when they wanted to stop the fight against Xylella in Puglia – which then it continued and now it is also arriving in the Bari area”.

What is the role of Legambiente now?
“The one before: being attentive to the environment but also to man, perhaps the concept that we have introduced most forcefully into Italian environmentalism. Today, to win environmental battles, we must also address issues from an economic point of view. Make it clear that dealing with the environment means dealing with the economy, with the future”.

What do you think of today’s young activists?
“Surely Greta, the Fridays and many movements have the merit of having rekindled the spotlight on the climate issue. As for extreme acts, such as soiling or traffic blocks, from my point of view young people need to think more about the effects who have their own actions. I understand that it is a cry of alarm, but if the new methods obtain a contrary effect to the message, then they are wrong actions. In our time we carried out strong actions, always non-violent, I remember some together with Chicco Testa, to block coal-fired plants. We knew we were doing an act that could lead to criminal consequences, but the purpose of the message was actions that did not impact on citizens’ daily lives”.

The climate crisis scares. Yet it is difficult, despite the tragedies, to really get it on the political agenda. Why?
“The climate crisis has never been at the center of the political agenda. We were already talking about it at the end of the 1990s, but there was little acceptance. The point is that today we need to demonstrate, because it is like this, that tackling the climate crisis now is worthwhile also from an economic point of view: if it is not made clear that it is the road to a new economy, even a more sober one – for example with the energy transition and renewable energies – then it is difficult to get across the concept that we have to deal with it. in Ukraine has made everyone understand the dependence on Russian gas and the importance of focusing on other energies. From here we must start again. Furthermore, when there are positive examples, such as large photovoltaic plants or intelligent projects to combat emissions, well , then politics should marry them and show them to everyone, put them at the center with much more emphasis and really take an interest in them. The same can be true for the circular economy, which works in Italy, we are in good shape in Europe. I repeat, the response to the climate crisis it is a bit in the very vision of Legambiente: to demonstrate that an economy more on a human scale is stronger for the environment”.