AGI – In Italy there is now an increasing drought emergency. From 2020 to mid-May 2024 in the Peninsula have been registered 81 damage from prolonged drought. Lombardy (15), Piedmont (14) and Sicily (9) are the most affected regions in recent years, followed by Sardinia (6), Emilia-Romagna (6) and Trentino-Alto-Adige (6).
This photograph was taken by Legambiente, which in view of World Environment Day – 5 June – with the theme ‘restoration of the territory, desertification and resilience to drought, takes stock of the situation with the new data from its Città Clima Observatory by launching the at the same time a double appeal to the Meloni Government and to Europe in view of the next European legislature. For the environmentalist association, rapid, concrete and integrated interventions are needed that can no longer be postponed. Three of the actions that Meloni indicates to the Executive, to better deal with the problem of drought, are the redefinition of a single direction by the District Basin Authorities; an integrated national river basin strategy; in addition to encouraging good practices that allow water to be retained as much as possible in the area and the promotion of systems for the recovery of rainwater and the reuse of waste water.
Legambiente asks Europe and the next European legislature to approve a framework law on climate resilience to coordinate stringent rules on adaptation, with effective national plans and adequate economic resources, in all member countries. According to conservative estimates by the European Commission, Without effective prevention of climate risks, damage from floods, heat waves, droughts, forest fires, crop failures or diseases could reduce European GDP by around 7% by the end of the century.. Furthermore, according to the provisions of the National Climate Adaptation Plan, launched at the end of 2023 by the Meloni Government, in Italy a reduction in the value of agricultural production of 12.5 billion euros is estimated in 2050 in a climate scenario with climate-altering emissions halved by 2050 and zero by 2080.
“The drought that has hit Sicily in particular in recent months, the rationed water, the protests of citizens and farmers – declares Stefano Ciafani, national president of Legambiente – give us a very summary of how the climate crisis is accelerating the pace even in Italy. From Sicily to Sardinia passing through the other regions of the Peninsula, it is clear that the effects of climate change, starting from the increasingly chronic drought events, are now very tangible with serious environmental and economic repercussions. In particular, the prolonged drought in In recent years it has repeatedly brought agricultural production to its knees and caused a worrying drop in lake levels. This is why it is essential to intervene in prevention rather than acting after extreme climatic events have hit the Peninsula circular, sustainable and integrated approach to water management and widespread dissemination of good practices already active in the area. At a European level – he continues – we ask for more ambitious climate and energy policies that are based on the green deal and on a new pact for the future that truly puts the environment at the centre”.
Looking back over the years, Legambiente recalls that 2022 was the one most marked by a prolonged drought, which particularly affected the Centre-North. For example, in Piedmont the anomaly compared to average rainfall was 41%. A situation that continued until the first months of 2023, only to then see a strong wave of rainfall concentrated in some areas and which was also repeated from the beginning of 2024. According to a study published in the journal ‘Nature Communications’, climate change they are making these rapid transitions from one extreme of precipitation to the opposite, from drought to floods and vice versa, more intense and frequent. Climate change is also accelerating the risk of desertification in entire regions such as Sicily.
These are Legambiente’s three proposals:
1) a single direction is re-established by the district basin authorities to know availability, real consumption, potential demand and to define updated water balances.
2) we need an integrated national strategy at river basin level, which pushes for the implementation of new and modern practices and measures to reduce water demand and avoid waste. With them we understand the savings in civil uses through the reduction of losses and consumption but above all in agricultural uses also through an intelligent remodulation of the regional programming tools of the new CAP, to make them capable of directing farmers’ choices towards crops and agri-food systems less water demanding and more efficient irrigation methods.
3) it is essential to restore all those practices that allow water to be retained in the territory as much as possible and to encourage actions to restore the ecological functionality of the territory and restore ecosystem services. At the same time, it is necessary to promote systems for the recovery of rainwater and the reuse of purified wastewater.
