Italian President Sergio Mattarella said on Saturday that the environment and climate change had been inadequately addressed for too long. Speaking at a UN seminar on climate change in Bonn during his State visit to Germany, Mattarella criticised past efforts.
“For too long, we have dealt in an inadequate manner with the issue of the safeguard of the environment and of climate change, artificially opposing between them the reasons of the management of the existent to those of the future of our children and grandchildren – inadequate,” he stated.
Mattarella added, “Because we thought we could deal with it by proceeding separately, looking back at the discoveries of the past, with ordinary resources, with obsolete instruments.”
The president stressed the “urgency of an energy transition that must be concrete, pragmatic, sustainable, and effective.” He pointed out, “The consequences of our delays are under everybody’s eyes and always nefarious. The intensification of the frequency of natural disasters is under everybody’s eyes and affects every aspect of our lives, devastating entire territories, sowing victims.”
Mattarella also remarked that the climate “is a challenge for innovation in which the future is at stake,” despite the European Union’s lesser contribution to global ecological instability compared to other industrial giants.
“Their choices appear outdated, and it is Europe’s pride to propose to invest in the future,” he concluded.
Last week, the economy minister said climate change threatens economic stability.
