Italy and greenhouse gas emissions
Italy is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the European Union, ranking third among EU member states. Historically, Italy's industrialization accelerated after World War II, transitioning from a primarily agricultural economy to one with substantial manufacturing, which includes a significant oil refining sector known for its GHG contributions. In 2015, transport was identified as a major source of emissions, accounting for nearly 30% of the total, while energy production and use comprised about 75.5% of GHG emissions that year. Italy's commitment under the Paris Agreement targets a 40% reduction in domestic GHG emissions by 2030.
Despite facing challenges, including a rise in emissions from 1990 to the mid-2000s, Italy has implemented various policies aimed at reducing its GHG output. These include adopting abatement technologies and increasing the use of renewable energy, particularly in response to economic pressures and EU regulations. The effects of global warming are becoming increasingly visible in Italy, with issues such as the melting of alpine glaciers affecting boundaries and local ecosystems. Active engagement in international agreements underscores Italy's recognition of the importance of addressing climate change and its impacts.
Italy and greenhouse gas emissions
Historical and Political Context
Italy has played a major role in the religious, philosophical, and artistic development of the world. For centuries, Italy served as the central point from which empire, religion, thought, and artistic creation emanated. The Roman Empire spread its political system and its culture throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. After its collapse, Rome became the center of Catholicism, and it was in Italy that the Renaissance began in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, eventually spreading across Europe and into the British Isles. It revived the thought and art of antiquity with humanism and rediscovered the human creative ability.
Politically, Italy has had many periods of political unrest. During the thirteenth century, there were fierce battles between the imperial and religious powers. The eighteenth century saw regional factions competing for political power. And again in the twentieth century, Italy’s government experienced serious instability. Under the republic established in 1946, some fifty different political groups have been in power. In contrast to its internal political volatility, Italy is a consistent supporter of international organizations. Italy joined the United Nations in 1955 and is a member of five other international organizations, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the organization of industrialized nations known as the Group of Seven (G-7), and the World Trade Organization. Italy was a founding member of the European Union (EU; formerly the European Community). Italy’s main trading partners are in the European Union; the country trades mostly with Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. It also trades with the United States and ranked tenth among the United States' trading partners in 2017, according to US census data.
Impact of Italian Policies on Climate Change
Although Italy underwent some industrialization during the nineteenth century, it remained primarily an agricultural economy until after World War II. Agriculture is still important to the country. Italy produces a wide variety of products, including grapes, olives, rice, sugar beets, and soybeans. It is the largest producer of wine in the world. The agriculture sector employs a large portion of Italy’s workforce. Approximately 3.9 percent of its population is employed in farming. Tourism continues to be important in the Italian economy.
The northern section of Italy where manufacturing is concentrated has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, while the south remains poor by world standards. After the war, Italy became more and more involved in manufacturing and is among the largest market economies in the world. While Italy possesses few natural resources other than natural gas, which is primarily in the Po Valley and in the Adriatic Sea, it imports a large quantity of raw materials for processing. In addition approximately 93 percent of its oil and natural gas and 16 percent of its electricity were also imported, as of 2017. Its major areas of manufacturing include precision machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, apparel and textiles, and ceramics.
Italy also has a significant oil refining industry, which contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A major source of increased GHG emissions is transport, which was responsible for nearly 30 percent of GHG emissions in 2015. The decrease in the use of fossil fuels to produce electricity has also helped decrease the GHG emissions. Production of the energy supply and energy use accounted for 75.5 percent of the GHG emissions in 2015. The industrial sector was the source of another 6.4 percent, as was agriculture.
Italy as a GHG Emitter
According to data collected by the European Environment Agency (EEA), Italy ranked third among the members of the European Union in GHG emissions. In 1990, the base year for the Kyoto Protocol, Italy had GHG emissions totaling 519.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Its emissions target under the Kyoto Protocol was 483 million metric tons. From 1990 to 1995, emissions remained more or less the same; the following years were then a period of substantial increase. From 2002 to 2006, Italy’s average GHG emissions were 571.4 million metric tons, which was an average increase of 10.6 percent for the period. The amount of GHGs emitted by Italy in 2006 showed a small decrease to 567.9 million metric tons but was still an increase of 9.9 percent over its 1990 emissions and well in excess of its Kyoto Protocol target.
In 2015, Italy produced 433 million metric tons of GHG emissions. That year, as an EU member country, Italy became party to a voluntary target of at least 40 percent domestic GHG reduction by 2030 under the Paris Agreement.
Summary and Foresight
Among the measures and policies already in place in Italy are the use of abatement technologies in the production of adipic acid and the replacement of fossil fuels with biomass for heating in the household sector. Italy was slow to regulate electrical consumption; however, the global economic recession of the late 2000s, along with growing energy production from renewable resources, led Italy to burn smaller amounts of fossil fuels for electricity. Other significant reductions in GHGs emitted by Italian industries resulted from the restrictions that were placed upon them under the European Union Emission Trading Scheme, a cap-and-trade program established in 2005. Reduction of GHG emissions and control of global warming is important to Italy, which is already seeing the effects of global warming on its land area. The melting of alpine glaciers is causing problems in regard to the Swiss-Italian border, which may need to be re-delineated.
Key Facts
Population: 62,137,802 (July 2017 estimate)Area: 301,340 square kilometersGross domestic product (GDP): $2.311 trillion (purchasing power parity, 2017 estimate)Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e): 520 in 1990; 433 in 2015Kyoto Protocol status: Ratified May 31, 2002
Bibliography
Archer, David. Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2007. Targeted to undergraduates. Excellent discussion of global warming and its effects, combined with a concise scientific explanation of the phenomenon. Also looks at economic effects of global warming. Chapters on GHGs and fossil fuels.
Charnovitz, Steve, and Gary Clyde Hufbauer. Global Warming and the World Trading System. Washington, D.C.: Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2009. Discusses the reduction of GHGs and its relation to trade and trade organizations, especially the World Trade Organization. Suggests methods to reduce GHGs without harming carbon-intensive industries, both domestic and international. Appendix on biofuel.
Clapp, Jennifer, and Peter Dauvergne. Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2005. Good discussion of environmental issues and global warming in respect to trade and the world economy.
"Environment Council Approves the EU's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution to the New Global Climate Agreement." Climate Action, European Commission, 3 June 2015, ec.europa.eu/clima/news/articles/news‗2015030601‗en. Accessed 15 Oct. 2018.
Italian Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990–2015: National Inventory Report 2017. Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, 2017, www.isprambiente.gov.it/files2017/pubblicazioni/rapporto/R‗261‗17.pdf. Accessed 15 Oct. 2018.
"Italy: Analysis." EIA, US Energy Information Administration, Aug. 2017, www.eia.gov/beta/international/analysis.php?iso=ITA. Accessed 15 Oct. 2018.
Locke, Richard M. Remaking the Italian Economy. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1997. Good for understanding changes in the Italian economy that have increased Italy’s GHG emissions. Pays special attention to the automobile and textile industries.
Shogren, Jason F. The Benefits and Costs of the Kyoto Protocol. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 1999. Excellent for understanding the Kyoto Protocol.