Rome, 4 June. (askanews) – In Italy, overbuilding causes two agricultural lands to disappear every day, endangering not only food production, but also the stability of the territory, at risk of instability and desertification and with artificial coverings which make the effects of climate changes.
This is Coldiretti’s photograph, taken by processing Ispra data, on the eve of World Environment Day which is celebrated on 5 June. According to the 2023 ISPRA report, 76.8 square kilometers of fertile soil have disappeared in the last year, at a rate of 2.4 square meters per second. The region with the highest land consumption is Lombardy, followed by Veneto and Campania.
The removal of fertile land also becomes a serious problem from a food point of view, so much so that it is estimated that land consumption “burns” food worth a billion euros per year. Furthermore, farmers are also moving away from the territories, making them increasingly at risk of collapse. The result is that over 9 out of 10 municipalities in Italy have part of the territory in areas at hydrogeological risk due to landslides and floods, aggravated by the effects of climate change, according to the latest Ispra report.
Also from this perspective, Coldiretti reminds us, the stop to wild photovoltaics resulting from the recent Agriculture Decree approved by the Government is important. “In recent years at a European level, an ideological and unrealistic vision has been fostered – underlines Coldiretti in a note – which placed agriculture and the environment in opposition when, instead, it is precisely the presence of agricultural companies that guarantees constant protection of the territory from the dangers associated to disruption as well as fires”. “It is essential from this perspective to accelerate the approval of the law on land consumption which has been pending in Parliament for years and which – concludes Coldiretti – could provide Italy with a cutting-edge instrument, once again allowing our country to do as a trailblazer in Europe, as has already happened for synthetic meat and the origin label”.
