In 2024, Italian spending on military missions to protect fossil fuels is increasing: from 833 million euros in 2023 it has already risen to 840 million. An inverse trend compared to the objectives of climate neutrality
@haritonoff/123rf
To be honest, it only took wars for our Government to give a further push to the militarization of fossil fuels and, in particular, to the connection between the new mission in the Red Sea and energy security. And so it is that in recent days the Chamber has approved all the military operations to protect the oil and gas routes.
According to Greenpeace data, only in 2024 will Italian spending on military missions to protect fossil fuels grow slightly in absolute terms compared to 2023: from 833 million euros to 840 million. A figure that has been constantly growing since 2019, with an inverse trend compared to the objectives of climate neutrality.
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And not only that: the numbers demonstrate the link between the Italian response to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and our energy supplies. According to FederPetroli27% of Italian crude oil imports and 34% of our LNG pass through the Suez Canal route.
Instead of focusing on peace and de-escalation, the United States and the European Union have chosen to further militarize an unstable area to protect a crucial route for fossil fuels, mainly responsible for the climate disaster. The other two European missions connected to the new Aspides operation, namely EMASoH in the Strait of Hormuz and Atalanta in the Gulf of Aden, have also played a role in protecting oil and gas imports for years.
The map of oil and gas protection missions
The main areas of “fossil” military missions remain those of previous years, namely:
- North Western Indian Ocean
- Middle East
- Central and eastern Mediterranean
- Gulf of Guinea and Mozambique
The most striking cases of “fossil” missions remain the Gabinia operation in the Gulf of Guinea – which continues to have as its first task the protection of “ENI’s extractive assets, operating in international waters”, as well as protecting oil tankers and other vessels from pirate attacks -, and Mediterraneo Sicuro, which sees the “surveillance and protection of ENI platforms located in international waters off the Libyan coast” confirmed. In 2023, the government report points out, this mission also contributed «to energy and communications security through the protection of critical infrastructures (off-shore platforms, oil pipelines, gas pipelines, underwater backbone pipelines) of national strategic interest, also in their underwater dimension ».
The government document, in fact, specifies that “the control and monitoring of energy infrastructures alone appear insufficient to guarantee this security (energy, ed.)”.
In short, the priority of Italian governments always remains the same: fossil fuels.
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