In our country theenvironmentalism has deep roots. There are many figures who have made history, real pioneers at European or even world level. Just think of Gino Girolomoni, father of organic in Europe, oa Laura Conti, mother of the legislation on safety at work; to Aurelio Peccei, precursor of awareness on the limits of the planet, or a Giorgio Nebbia, pioneer of the circular economy.
And from these roots a sensitivity has spread over the years that has contaminated the whole of society little by little, almost without us realizing it. Many things that appeared very normal years ago are now considered absurd (for example burying toxic-harmful waste in the areas of industrial plants as was ordinarily done up to the 1970s) and many that seemed pure Utopia are now part of our daily reality (just think of the widespread attention to energy in the choice of many products such as household appliances or cars).
It is not easy to realize how much we owe to environmental culture, of how much it has affected and how it has concretely improved our lives in all fields, from food to housing, from health tooccupation.
Likewise, there is no widespread awareness of how much the business world in Italy can boast of absolute excellence, even at an international level, with respect to environmental sustainability: we are a world leader in the sector of inverters, paper recycling as well as used oils and many other eco-technologies. Few people know that we have more renewables than Germany as a percentage of consumption and we are also more virtuous in terms of energy intensity. A few years ago the Municipality of Milan also went to teach the organic waste treatment to the municipality of Berlin.
The same also applies to the world of research, in which we have undisputed excellence (for example in the field of bioplastiche), but perhaps we already talk a little more about this.
And our civil society is also very rich from the point of view of environmental commitment, counting hundreds of associations, bodies, committees that – with a thousand different facets – are committed to the protection and promotion of nature: from woods to animals, from the sea to renewable energy …
Moreover, this sensitivity is spreading more and more and even the pandemic, exposing the absurdities of an unsustainable development model, has led many to reflect. According to a recent research carried out by Nomisma on a representative sample of the Italian population, 87% of Italians are aware of the fact that the environmental situation is very serious. Unfortunately, not all of these are consistently available to make consequent choices, however the number of those who are passing from words to action appears to be increasing sharply: 52% of the sample, for example, declare that they regularly adopt sustainable purchasing behaviors, thus demonstrating concrete attention to the environmental issue.
This percentage almost coincides – and it does not seem a coincidence – with that 50% which is animated by the “sense of responsibility towards future generations ”as the motivation behind their choices in lifestyles and purchases. Generations which, among other things, have recently been making their voices heard strongly.
And yet, paradoxically, all this very rich environmental world is very fragmented, both socially and politically, and this makes it extremely weak and reduces its ability to effectively affect decision-making processes. Political environmentalism in particular carries very little weight when compared to the overall value of environmentalism in society and this is a real shame.
Today more than ever, in the face of the gravity and urgency of the challenges of climate changes and the loss of biodiversity (these are the two absolute priorities), it would take an ability to join forces to make one’s voice heard and try to steer all choices in the direction of sustainability. It is a complex challenge, because the thousand souls I mentioned above are very different from each other and it is not easy to make a synthesis that puts them in value in a complementary way.
In recent months, various paths have been born that have the common goal of aggregating and bringing together this variegated environmentalist world, with the aim of arriving at proposing in the next political elections only one offer and not a fan that divides the already small share of voters available. A quota that in reality could also be much larger, as happens beyond the Alps for the green movements, if it really found a proposal at the polls unitary, clear and consistent. A proposal that pays attention to the environment not so much as a problem to be solved, but as how opportunity to be seized to solve all our problems, from the economic level to social justice, from employment to health and so on.
In a few days an important meeting will be held, which seeks to collect these innumerable paths, trying to mend the divisions and start the construction of a unitary subject of political environmentalism – which has as its reference point the European Greens – equal to the challenges we face. To promote this Assembly Ecologist, which will be held on 5 February in Florence at the Stensen Auditorium, a multiplicity of subjects: civic lists, parliamentarians, associations and groups of citizens working in the area, mayors, councilors, municipal and regional councilors, women and men working on the issues of climate change, environmental and social justice, rights, which share a vision and “consider it a priority to bring a vision and ecological government proposals to the center of the political debate, in the country and in the institutions for the realization of a just transition in our country “.
Virtually all the actors and acronyms of Italian environmentalism have been invited, which certainly – for a thousand reasons – will not be easy to bring back to unity. But in the end, this is precisely the challenge proposed by this Ecological Assembly, aware that “we need to act now to create a ecological transition fair, timely and far-sighted that points decisively towards climate neutrality “.
Everyone can participate by accrediting the event. The hope is that it can be a useful moment of discussion, to start this process of union which is as difficult as it is absolutely essential.
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