Climate, Anbi at the Doha Expo:the actions of Italian reclamation consortia at the center of international attention

"While waiting for unavoidable but not easy planetary choices, it is necessary to give, on a local level, concrete responses of adaptation and resilience", explains Francesco Vincenzi

ROME - According to the ISPI (Institute for International Political Studies), climate change causes 80% of natural disasters and could force around 143 million people to migrate by 2050;in the first half of 2023, devastating floods were recorded in the U.S.and China, accompanied by extreme and prolonged droughts as in Canada, Spain and Greece.In Italy, in the year just ended, the violence of weather events rapidly transformed conditions of water scarcity and prolonged drought into disastrous hydrogeological emergencies (Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Marche, Campania...).

The Swiss insurance company Swiss Re has calculated that damages from natural disasters grow at an annual average of between 5% and 7%: in the first half of 2023 this cost was 46% higher than the average of the last 10 years, reaching the figure of 120 billion dollars.

The European Severe Weather Database recorded, in the month of July alone, over 4,100 extreme atmospheric phenomena in the Old Continent (heat waves, prolonged droughts, sudden intense rainfall, hailstorms, tornadoes, flash floods).

Drought is also a contributing cause of forest fires: in the first half of 2023, 2,100,000 hectares of forests burned in Canada, while in Italy, according to ISPRA (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), ha went up in flames.59,000, of which 75% in Sicily and 18% in Calabria.

Not only that;the UN has stated that every human being must have at least 50 liters of water a day to survive: a quantity, which is a mirage in many areas of the world.

“It is to this emergency context that, while awaiting unavoidable but not easy planetary choices, it is necessary to give, on a local level, concrete responses of adaptation and resilience. For this reason, we took the opportunity to present, in the Italian Pavilion within theDoha Expo, Qatari capital, the strategies and interventions implemented by the reclamation and irrigation consortia to counter the consequences of the climate crisis – he explains Francesco Vincenzi, President of ANBI – On this mission we were accompanied by the President of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Commission of the Senate, Luca De Carlo and we were received by the Ambassador in Qatar, Paolo Toschi.”

The event "The new frontiers of water collection, irrigation and reuse" was an opportunity to present in an international context the measurements e the actions that ANBI, balancing the needs of all stakeholders, is pursuing in Italy.

“Alongside the adaptation of the existing hydraulic network, what is needed – continues the President of the National Association of Consortia for the Management and Protection of the Territory and Irrigation Water – is the creation of new infrastructures to increase the capacity to retain water in the area, increasing water reserves.At the same time, irrigation use must be optimized, thanks to technological innovation for agriculture 4.0:on the one hand, computer and telematic systems, drones, sensors, satellites, artificial intelligence;on the other, genetic improvement and new agronomic techniques for sustainable cultivation.Finally, the circularity of use of water resources also in agriculture must be encouraged.We relaunch - continues Vincenzi - the ANBI-Coldiretti proposal for the creation of a widespread network of new, sustainable and multifunctional water basins for the collection of rainwater, of which currently only 11% of the approximately 300 billion cubic meters are retained, which fall on Italy annually.The plan, to be financed with a multi-year fund, already has around 390 projects, of which 123 are in the executive phase and, therefore, immediately ready for construction.The basins, to be created in environmental harmony with the territories, are able to respond not only to irrigation needs, but also to civil, industrial, energy, social and, if necessary, drinking needs.Furthermore, it is necessary to expand and make more efficient the 3 and a half million hectares currently equipped with collective irrigation systems, as well as investing in innovative solutions such as digitalisation, monitoring, automated and remote-controlled management of water networks, advanced services to support the irrigation decision-making process.The GocciaVerde water sustainability certification and the Irriframe irrigation advice platform are two examples of our concrete commitment to serving the local economy.Finally, we are working on solutions that allow, as also requested by the European Union, greater use of purified waste water in agriculture. Currently in Italy around 9 billion cubic meters of water regenerated by efficient purification plants and which could be used for irrigation purposes are lost per year.To encourage the reuse of water in agriculture, however, we reiterate the need for incontrovertible and public guarantees to protect the quality and healthiness of agricultural production. In fact, difficulties remain in the elimination of heavy metals and emerging pollutants (microplastics, radioactive elements, antibiotics, xenobiotic molecules, etc.)."

The ANBI mission in Doha also consisted of Adriano Battilani, Secretary General Irrigants d'Europe;Caterina Truglia, Deputy Director of ANBI;Raffaella Zucaro, General Director of the C.E.R. Consortium– Emiliano Romagnolo Canal.