March 28, 2024

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To assist Member States counteract the social and financial impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Commission launched a “Recovery and Resilience Facility” (RRF) in February 2021. The RRF will make €672.5 billion in loans and grants obtainable to help reforms and investments undertaken by Member States to make European economies and societies extra sustainable, resilient and higher ready for the challenges and alternatives of the inexperienced and digital transitions. The Commission requires {that a} minimal of 37% of every Member States Recovery Plans should go in direction of local weather motion. Italy not solely fails to succeed in this goal allocating round 30%, but additionally fails to spend money on the restoration of pure ecosystems, a vital component of any significant local weather coverage.

Member States are within the strategy of making ready their Recovery and Resilience Plans that set out a coherent bundle of reforms and public funding initiatives. The Italian authorities has introduced its remaining model of their nationwide Recovery and Resilience Plan the place it’s revealed {that a} measly 0.51% has been devoted to notionally biodiversity-targeted investments. In actuality, even this tiny fraction is an overestimate because it consists of factors such because the set up of wi-fi in nationwide parks. The Natura 2000 community isn’t talked about within the plan neither by way of safeguards nor by way of investments.

Adding insult to harm, the present Italian plan additionally simplifies environmental influence evaluation procedures, that means there’s a excessive threat that initiatives that harm biodiversity will probably be funded. It additionally additional reduces the power of civil society to take part within the course of and act as a watchdog to guarantee correct spending and respecting the rule of legislation. This may be very regarding as an entire vary of high-impact infrastructures are already deliberate. For instance, of their regional plan, the Piemonte area has inserted the event of alpine ski infrastructures inside a Natura 2000 website.

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In an open letter, BirdLife Europe urges the European Commission to handle these points and produce the Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan in step with the factors set out by the Commission themselves.

Ariel Brunner, Senior Head of Policy, BirdLife Europe:
“Italy’s Recovery Plan, Europe’s greatest, is supposed to ship the EU Green Deal, as a substitute it dangers undermining it by funding 20th century infrastructures whereas ignoring the urgency of recovering biodiversity which is a 21st century emergency.”

Danilo Selvaggi, General Manager of Lipu-BirdLife Italy:
“As it stands, the Italian Recovery Plan misses the plot, and does nothing to align itself with the EUs local weather and biodiversity ambitions. It is essential that the European Commission intervenes to ensure Italy follows the rules and proper their plan, and assist put nature not simply within the coronary heart of EU coverage, but additionally in Italian coverage.

ENDS

Notes for editors:

LIPU recommends the following factors to be amended within the Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan

For extra data, please contact:

Honey Kohan, Communication Manager, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia
+32 483 55 95 43
honey.kohan@birdlife.org

 

BirdLife Europe and Central Asia is a partnership of 45 nationwide conservation organisations and a pacesetter in fowl conservation. Our distinctive native to world strategy permits us to ship excessive influence and long-term conservation for the good thing about nature and other people. BirdLife Europe and Central Asia is likely one of the six regional secretariats that compose BirdLife International. Based in Brussels, it helps the European and Central Asian Partnership and is current in 44 nations together with all EU Member States. With greater than 4100 workers in Europe, two million members and tens of hundreds of expert volunteers, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, along with its nationwide companions, owns or manages greater than 6000 nature websites totalling 320,000 hectares.

 

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Source www.birdlife.org