RAVENNA. In our large cities, pollution caused mainly by road traffic is now aggravated by thermal stress, a direct consequence of climate change. Based on international parameters, Ener2Crowd.com, the number one sustainable investment and savings platform in Italy, has updated the air quality index (Air Quality Index) to date, drawing up a ranking of the 10 most polluted cities in our country. On the podium we find: 1) Milan, with an index of 56; 2) Bergamo, with an index of 55; 3) Brescia, with an index of 56. In these three cities in Lombardy, the main pollutants are fine dust and in particular PM2.5, which reaches values of 12µg/m3, 11.4 µg/m3 and 8 µg/m3 respectively. “The concentration of PM2.5 in Milan is currently 2.4 times the annual guideline value of the World Health Organization on air quality and the concentration is almost identical also in Bergamo” underlines Giorgio Mottironi, CSO and co-founder of the benefit company Ener2Crowd, Chief Analyst of the GreenVestingForum, the forum of alternative green finance, as well as Special Assistant to the Secretary-General for Environmental and Scientific Affairs of the World Organization for International Relations (WOIR). Following in this ranking: 4) Padua (index 51); 5) Venice (index 50); 6) Bolzano (index 48); 7) Ravenna (index 46); 8) Florence (index 45); 9) Pavia (index 42); 10) Rome (index 39).
“The situation will get even worse in July, when temperatures will rise and consequently the air quality will worsen” points out Niccolò Sovico, CEO and co-founder of the benefit company Ener2Crowd specialized in alternative finance. According to the platform’s analysts, this year we will have even higher temperatures than last summer, which had already set the record for days with greater extreme thermal stress, measured in terms of perceived temperatures above 46 degrees. In short, a deadly heat, especially for older people. Not to mention the fires, which in 2023 devastated 5 thousand square kilometers of forest, an area almost as large as Liguria, including the fire in Greece – the largest ever recorded in Europe – which destroyed an area of 960 square kilometers. “Precisely driven by the climate crisis, extreme forest fires are constantly increasing on a global level: in the last two decades the frequency and intensity has more than doubled, with an accumulation of the most extreme events especially in the last few years” highlights Giorgio Mottironi. But pollution caused by road traffic is also exacerbated by climate change. In short, we find ourselves having to face an explosive storm that endangers our health. “Italy is even the first country in Europe for deaths attributable to air pollution with 80 thousand premature deaths per year, more than triple compared to Spain, for example, where air pollution causes 26 thousand premature deaths annually” Ener2Crowd analysts observe based on the latest data from the European Environment Agency.
The data coincide with those of the World Health Organization (WHO), which found that air pollution causes more than 3 million premature deaths worldwide every year. According to the specialists at Ener2Crowd, polluting emissions can however be reduced by 50% by promoting zero-consumption buildings and electric vehicles. And the same can be done through alternative finance. “By investing just 4.6% of our financial wealth each year, therefore around 40 thousand euros per capita for a total of 227 billion euros, in ESG certified products and solutions, we can eliminate our carbon footprint and suddenly lead the country to reach over 50% of the sustainable transition objectives for 2030,” say the experts. A collective benefit, but not only that: there are also important profit margins. Today, companies are willing to offer returns ranging from 9% to 12% gross per year to investors who intend to support their projects for the reduction of CO2 emissions through debt, and in particular through crowdinvesting services. For the richest, then, “investing sustainably” is the opportunity to do the right thing, demonstrating the positive role they can have, also in relation to their standards of living and their consumption styles. “Our commitment is towards a fair energy transition, combining the global challenge of climate change with the generation of opportunities” conclude the founders of what is the largest widespread investment fund in the energy transition present today in Italy.
