The World Bank Group's Connect4Climate program organized a climate change discussion during the Festival of Participation promoted by the Italia, Sveglia! (Italy, Wake up!) alliance. The "Italia, Sveglia!" alliance is lead by ActionAid, Cittadinanzattiva and Slow Food Italia, in cooperation with the Municipality of L’Aquila, and it has the purpose of contributing to the transformation of the nation, through the citizens active role and participation, and the protection of their rights.
Connect4Climate facilitated the discussion on climate action, engaging several stakeholders from different private sector industries, including construction companies, energy providers, tourism players, as well as the local public administration, academia, and citizens.
Max Falcone, Connect4Climate, Sandro Polci, Legambiente, Lorenzo Santilli, Unioncamere Abruzzo, Pietro Laureano, UNESCO, Marco Frey, Cittadinanzattiva, Marco Girolami, Touring Club Italiano. Photo Credit: Connect4Climate
A participatory process aimed at understanding how citizens consider climate change in order to identify new solutions. The event was organized inside the “Festival della Partecipazione”, 4 days of workshops in a city which is being reconstructed with a sustainable approach; the issue is: how to use a disaster, the earthquake which destroyed L’Aquila, to reconfigure cities and daily life towards a totally sustainable culture.
After an introduction on Climate Change by Connect4Climate, the panelists started to debate in the format of a 2 hours dialogue with the public.
Marco Frey, Cittadinanzattiva and Global Compact Italian Network Chairman: “Individual responsibility will lead the change and tackle climate change.”
Pierluigi Sassi, Earth Day Italia Chairman, presented the global network campaigns where individuals are the main players, while Sandro Polci shifted the discussion to the role individuals should play to control corporates responsibility.
Lorenzo Santilli, Unioncamere Abruzzo – the 4 Regional Chambers of Commerce President, confirmed that corporates are compelled to tackle climate change if they still want to make profit. Marco Frattoddi, Stati Generali dell’Innovazione, used President Santilli’s description of the private sector engagement to introduce the concept of innovation as a booster for industrial sustainable solutions.
Domenico Nicoletti, Parco Nazionale Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga, inspired by the private sector declarations regarding responsibility and innovation, presented the Italian Government reform: “National parks will become innovation centers for creating shared values and receive dedicated fiscal and financial advantages. Natural parks assets are based on biodiversity, but there is no discrepancy with production.”
Biodiversity has another economic value, namely tourism. The 122-year-old sustainable tourism association in Italy, Touring Club Italiano, highlighted the relevance of tourism: “All tourism is sustainable,” the spokesperson emphasized.
Max Falcone, Connect4Climate, Sandro Polci, Legambiente, Lorenzo Santilli, Unioncamere Abruzzo, Pietro Laureano, UNESCO, Marco Frey, Cittadinanzattiva, Marco Girolami, Touring Club Italiano. Photo Credit: Connect4Climate
Pietro Laureano, UNESCO representative, added that some multinationals are still destroying common resources and using sustainability just for “green-washing”. The audience confirmed that the reconstruction of L’Aquila had similar problems, because of corporates interested only making profit.
In conclusion, the discussion emphasized that every citizen will be an ambassador for climate action.
