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20th birthday celebrations for the convention in Rimini until Friday 11th. The first days are dedicated to the potential of the green economy in Italy.
Ecomondo, the international fair of green technologies, took off in Rimini on November 8th and will be on until Friday 11th. The event, an Italian flagship in the field of the so-called circular economy, celebrates its 20th birthday this year and bears witness to the major changes undergone by the world in the last two decades.
As always, the fair will start with a two-day debate to reflect upon the past and future of the green economy: the convention will host the fifth edition of the Green Economy States General, on the 8th and 9th of November. The event, a gathering of 64 green enterprise associations, is organized by the National Council for Green Economy in cooperation with the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry for Economic Development, and the Sustainable Development Foundation.
The two main points to be discussed in this 2016 edition are the potential of the Italian green economy and its low international visibility. The Green Economy States General kicked off on November 8th during the morning opening session, and will continue in the afternoon with 5 parallel informative sessions. The closing session will be held in the morning of November 9th and will be dedicated to the theme “Cities as a driver for green economy”. The policy recommendations by the National Council for Green Economy will also be presented.
The two-day event aims at showing that the green economy can be a key driver for a solid recovery of the economic development in Italy. The Italian green economy is a fertile environment with several EU-level excellence leaders: if adequately promoted and developed, such examples could attract new investments and generate new employment possibilities. A study of 8 strategic themes (greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, energy efficiency, waste recycling, eco-innovation, ecological agri-food, natural capital, and sustainable mobility) with 16 key indicators comparing Italy with the top 4 European economies (Germany, UK, France, Spain) surprisingly reveals that the Italian green economy, although far from perfect, holds the first place in the ranking. The analysis was carried out by the Sustainable Development Foundation with EU data and was included in the first part of the 2016 Green Economy Report.
In the ranking of the first 5 European economies, Italy wins four first places (renewable energy quotas, special waste recycling, CO2 emissions per capita in transports, and certified agri-food products) and three second places (energy efficiency, resource productivity, biological agriculture). Italy’s weak points are the increase of CO2 emission in 2015, the slow growth of renewable energies over the last 3 years, and the high soil consumption. In spite of these issues, the Italian green economy seems to have the best overall performance among the 5 top EU economies, and a great development potential.
The second part part of the Green Economy Report that opened the 2016 States General focuses on a fundamental issue: the international perception of Italy’s green economy. This theme was analysed through a comparative study carried out by the “Dual Citizen” research centre of Washington DC on 80 world countries. The study produced a ranking of the international perception countries have of each other: with respect to green economy, Italy ranks as low as 26th on 80 countries, proving to be the only major EU country whose international perception is far worse than its actual performances (while the international perception of Germany, for example, is much higher than its actual performances).
“Italy’s excellence examples in the field of green economy are stronger than the difficulties they have to face – commented Edo Ronchi, President of the Sustainable Development Foundation – Supporting our excellences and overcoming hardships to relaunch Italy’s economy is possible, and Italy’s development potential is unrivalled. Nobody has the development potential that the Italian green economy has. So why do we have such a poor green reputation abroad? Because we communicate too little and too ineffectively about the many good things Italy is capable of doing, while we put huge emphasis on the negative things that we should work harder to eliminate”.
For further information, read the plan of the Green Economy States General
To learn more about the other events of the convention, visit the website of Ecomondo
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