Climate, question Roggiani (Pd): on assessment of flood damage in Lombardy

ROGGIANI, BRAGA, CUPERLO, FORATTINI, GIRELLI, GUERINI, MAURI, PELUFFO, QUARTAPELLE PROCOPIO and SIMIANI. — To the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, to the Minister for Civil Protection and Maritime Policies. — To find out – given that:

between 1980 and 2022, according to the latest data from a Censis-Confcooperative study, climate change caused 111 billion euros in damage in Italy: 57.1 billion euros for floods, 30.6 billion for heat waves, 15, 2 billion euros for rainfall, 8.2 billion for drought, forest fires and cold waves;

these are figures that grow exponentially as the years pass: we are talking about 42.8 billion from 2017 to 2022 alone while in 2022 17 billion euros (0.9 of GDP);

according to the latest surveys, the number of Italian municipalities at risk of hydrogeological instability and coastal erosion in 2021 rises to 94 out of 100, a total of 7,423. An increase that is reflected both in areas potentially subject to landslides (4 percent increase over 2017) and in those exposed to floods (19 percent increase). If the danger concerns almost the entire peninsula, the areas of maximum risk are also increasing. In all, there are 8 million Italians who live in particularly vulnerable territories;

in this context it should be noted that the Meloni Government has practically halved the funds available to combat hydrogeological instability. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan originally envisaged 2.49 billion euros on this measure (Mission 2, Component 4, Investment 2.1) while the new PNRR cancels 1.287 billion euros. In the opinion of the questioners, these choices appear devastating in light of the continuous episodes of bad weather that are affecting the country;

last in chronological order is the flood that hit Milan, the neighboring municipalities and a large part of Lombardy on 15 May 2024, causing devastating consequences on the territory with rainfall that had not been recorded for over 170 years;

the intense rains that affected the region caused flooding of the Lambro, Seveso and Sillaro rivers, causing serious inconvenience for the resident population and extensive damage to infrastructure with isolated population centers, displaced families and unusable roads;

some municipalities affected by the floods have already announced that they will request a state of natural disaster;

the fact that the current emergency situation has already been experienced in Lombardy in recent years and in particular in the summer of 2023 when numerous extreme events occurred, highlights the urgency of adopting targeted policies and interventions to prevent and manage in hydrogeological risk effectively and to allocate greater resources for this purpose, in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of communities affected by extreme climatic events -:

whether the Ministers questioned intend to start an accurate assessment of the damage caused by the flood and evaluate the adoption, within their competence, of extraordinary measures for the affected communities, in order to guarantee immediate assistance to the evacuated people and support to local businesses that have suffered economic losses.
(5-02391)