Melons at Cop29:“No to ideological approaches, all useful technologies”

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, speaking at COP29 in Baku, reiterated her approach to combating climate change.

“Italy will continue to make its contribution to the climate, but everyone must collaborate.You need one new energy diplomacy to multiply the opportunities for collaboration between the North and South of the world.It is a pillar of our Mattei plan for Africa.But to combat climate change, renewables are not enough, we need a non-ideological approach that also includes gas." Giorgia Meloni spoke at the twenty-ninth United Nations World Climate Conference, the Cop29 in Baku, focusing his speech on the need to work in a united way and without ideological preclusions.

“Italy will continue to do its part but everyone's help is needed”

During her speech, the Prime Minister recalled “the positive results that have been reached by the G7 during the Italian presidency, including the development of infrastructure for the production and distribution of green energy in Africa and support for most vulnerable nations for mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of climate changes”.Then he added:“We are called to make an effort to limit the growth of global average temperature to 1.5 degrees centigrade, increase renewable capacity and energy efficiency by 2030.To do this, great financial support is needed."

In this sense Meloni touched on the main objective of Cop29:guarantee i capital necessary for the ecological transition, to adapt to the climate crisis and for the loss and damage fund:“We will continue to support the climate fund and the climate fund loss and damage”.

Melons:“Yes to decarbonisation, but if it is sustainable for production systems”

But, in accordance with the line that the ultra-conservative Italian government has always held, Meloni recalled in Baku that "the decarbonisation It's a priority but needs to be taken into consideration the sustainability of production systems and social".The formula chosen is "protect nature" but with “the man at the center”.This is because according to the leader of Fratelli d'Italia "an approach that is too ideological and not very pragmatic risks not leading us to success".

In concrete terms, according to Meloni, this must translate into a process based "on technological neutrality", because "there is not a single alternative to fossil fuels, a global and realistic view is needed, also because the world population will reach the 8.5 billion in 2030, with consequent increases in energy consumption."For this reason, “we need an energy mix that uses all available technologies.Not only renewables but also gas, biofuels, hydrogen, CO2 capture and storage and in the future the nuclear fusion”.

According to Meloni, the solutions also include gas, CO2 capture and storage and nuclear fusion

According to numerous calculations carried out by the scientific community and non-governmental organizations, however, gas can be, at most, one source of transition in the very short term, but cannot be considered as such in the context of a medium or long-term process.CO2 capture and storage is capable of providing minimal benefits at present and nuclear fusion is something that could, perhaps, become a reality in several decades.There climate crisis instead, it is now, and it must be addressed with what the world has available now.

“Evoking a 'historic turning point' in energy from nuclear fusion as Council resident Meloni did this morning at COP29 in Baku means offering false hopes, precisely at a time when, as she herself says, a pragmatic approach is needed – he commented Nicola Armaroli, research director at the Cnr, co-founder of Energia per l'Italia -.Nuclear fusion, in fact, is not an energy option today:it is a research field with great potential, but which will not be able to contribute to decarbonisation, at least for the next 30 years, those crucial to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change.This is because even one of the most ambitious fusion projects in the world, Iter, which tries to combine the main lines of research, even if it succeeded in achieving all the objectives within the expected timeframe, it could not have as its final result the commercialization of nuclear fusion energy with magnetic confinement before 50 years".“Nuclear fusion, while promising, is one of the examples of technologies that are still in the long term.What we need today is to invest in research and development but, above all, to implement the technologies already available", added theItalian climate network.

“As in every Cop – concluded Giorgia Meloni – it depends on us whether it will be a success or a failure.We know that the efforts we are making can pay off, but that is not the most important thing.I I'm a mother and nothing gives me more satisfaction than when I know I'm working to allow her to live in a better place."