'Pragmatic approach necessary on climate' - Meloni

Italy wants to continue "to do its
own part" to tackle climate change but a pragmatic approach is
necessary to protect the environment, Premier Giorgia Meloni
said on Wednesday in her address at the COP29 summit in Baku,
Azerbaijan.

   
"We need a balanced energy mix to favour the transition process.

   
"We need to use all available technologies", the premier said.

   
The prime minister stressed that "ambitious goals" were outlined
at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai in January, and
"reaching these goals requires everyone's cooperation, starting
with the major emitters of greenhouse gases and adequate
financial support".

   
"Working for a valuable compromise requires sharing
responsibilities and overcoming divisions between developed
countries and emerging and developing economies", said the
premier.

   
Meloni recalled that Italy is already earmarking for Africa most
of the over four-billion-euro budget of its climate fund and
will continue to support initiatives like the Green Climate Fund
and the Loss and Damage Fund.

   
However, stressed the prime minister, it is a priority for
decarbonization to take into account the sustainability of "our
production and social systems".

   
"We must protect nature with men at its core, an approach that
is too ideological and not pragmatic risks to take us off the
road to success", she said in her speech.

   
Meloni noted that, at the moment, there is no alternative to
fossil fuels, but "we need to have a realistic vision", calling
for a balanced transition process.

   
"We need to use all available energies, not just renewables",
noted the premier, including "bio fuels and nuclear fusion"
which "could produce clean, safe and limitless energy".

   
Italy, continued the premier, is "at the forefront on nuclear
fusion and in the framework of our G7 presidency we organized
the first meeting of the World Fusion Energy Group sponsored by
the International Atomic Energy Agency, we intend to relaunch
this technology, which could be a game changer as it can turn
energy from a geopolitical weapon into a widely accessible
resource".

   
"Let's work for a new energy diplomacy to multiply opportunities
for cooperation between the global North and global South", said
the premier.

   

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