{"id":314,"date":"2023-10-07T08:53:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T06:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fondazionelottomatica.test\/italians-and-climate-change-report-by-maurizio-ferrera\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T17:03:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:03:41","slug":"italians-and-climate-change-report-by-maurizio-ferrera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fondazionelottomatica.officine06lab.com\/en\/italians-and-climate-change-report-by-maurizio-ferrera\/","title":{"rendered":"Italians and climate change | report by Maurizio Ferrera"},"content":{"rendered":"

We publish below the introduction of the report entitled \u201cItalians and climate change: an eco-social barometer<\/u><\/strong>\u201d, edited by Maurizio Ferrera<\/strong>, full professor of Political Science at the University of Milan, Scientific Supervisor of Percorsi di Secondo Welfare<\/a> and Advisory Board member of the Lottomatica Foundation<\/a>. A full downloadable version of the report is attached at the bottom of the page.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fighting climate change is imperative for the future of Europe and the entire planet. In 2019, the Green Deal committed the EU to becoming climate-neutral by 2050. This implies reducing polluting emissions as much as possible and compensating for any that remain, so as to reach a net-zero balance between emissions and offsets. Only by achieving this goal can we neutralise the greenhouse effect and its dramatic consequences.<\/p>\n

The Green Deal includes a wide range of measures: incentives for environmentally friendly technologies, support for innovation, promotion of cleaner forms of transport, and decarbonisation of the energy sector. The \u201cgreen\u201d transition will impact every aspect of daily life, from the walls and windows in homes to appliances, and from how we get around to food. For this reason, the Green Deal is symbolically based on a \u201cEuropean climate pact\u201d, aimed not only at governments and companies, but at all communities, civil society organisations, families and citizens. Only if the climate emergency and the objectives of the pact succeed in engaging individuals and changing their tendencies and behaviours, will it really be possible to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal.<\/p>\n

The transition to a more sustainable society will certainly not be a walk in the park in terms of the financial, economic, social and political costs. While the benefits of the transition will be widespread and affect everyone (reduction of the negative effects of climate change, less pollution, sustainable transport, access to healthier food and so on), most of the costs will be concentrated on specific productive sectors, social categories and regions (essentially, those with a greater number of jobs and production activities dependent on fossil energy). This will lead to distribution tensions that will not be easy to manage. As the war in Ukraine has shown, there is also the risk of sudden shocks (in this case, the increase in the price of gas) that can cause obstacles and delays in the adaptation process.<\/p>\n

The consequences of climate change are now being felt measurably in all European regions, with droughts, floods, landslides, fires and so on. The sudden rise in the cost of bills and petrol in the second half of 2022 has started to affect citizens\u2019 pockets. The announcement of regulatory measures (the discontinuation of fossil fuel vehicles, reduction of emissions from livestock farming and energy efficiency in buildings) has already triggered various forms of protest. And the journey is just beginning. It is no wonder that experts predict the emergence of increasingly acute \u201ceco-social\u201d conflicts as a distinctive feature of European politics in the coming decades.<\/p>\n

To properly address this series of challenges, it is essential to start from known data, beginning with public opinion trends. This \u201cbarometer\u201d shows the data of a recent survey carried out in seven European countries at the end of 2022. The questionnaire covered the following areas:<\/p>\n