When extreme environmental phenomena are repeated in increasingly
shorter periods of time, it is starting to become inappropriate toclassify them as such. Water storms, macroscopic hailstorms, blizzards
that uncover roofs and uproot trees, tornadoes and waterspouts in all
regions of Italy are no longer an exclusive characteristic of the autumn
period. A scenario that leaves no doubt about the now consolidated
climate change. No longer extreme phenomena, but normality. And yet,
both in the media narrative and in the assumption of responsibility by
the competent authorities, every time these phenomena cause destruction
and often death, the extraordinary scale of the event is emphatically
emphasized with the exorbitant millimeters of water raining from the
sky and this to distance themselves from direct and indirect, contingent
and remote responsibilities.
If the climate has changed, and it has changed, it is unthinkable that
we continue to plug the gaps through emergency interventions; for the
immediate and necessary response due to the affected populations, it
would be appropriate to start concrete programs to secure the territory.
A territory that of our twenty regions made particularly fragile by
decades of neglect: indiscriminate construction in floodplain areas,
deviations of streams, burying of streams in many urban areas, little or
no maintenance of waterways, wild concreting despite the presence of a
now acquired demographic decline. Even where there would seem to be a
virtuous trend as in the case of forestation, where in the last 5 years
there has been an exponential extension of wooded areas leading to
covering 11 million hectares of total forest surface at a national
level, equal to 37% of the national territory, we are recording
contradictory phenomena. The expansion of forested areas is in fact an
almost completely uncontrolled phenomenon attributable to the
abandonment of agricultural land, particularly in rural and mountainous
areas, by farmers and ranchers, who since the economic boom of the 1960s
have begun to move towards more urbanized areas, leaving vast areas of
fertile land uncultivated. Nature has therefore reclaimed the spaces
left free by man but, without real maintenance, the woods, instead of
being "natural sponges" if cared for with care, have been neglected and
the slopes have not been subjected to the necessary interventions to
regulate surface water. In order to be a protection against floods and
landslides, the forest needs constant extraordinary and ordinary
maintenance consisting of the removal of stones, branches and dry
plants, selective cutting to eliminate old and dangerous trees,
accompanied by naturalistic engineering works to create embankments and
protective barriers, restore dry stone walls and place wooden fences to
retain earth and stones that would otherwise slide downstream. Attention
that has clearly been lacking considering that floods and landslides are
constantly increasing although particularly fragile regions such as
Liguria have a territory covered for over 70% by woods, the highest
percentage in Italy. No less serious is the absence of any project to
protect the territory in urbanized areas, where we continue to concrete
relentlessly, suffocating with gray green areas potentially essential to
make urban centers more "climatically" resilient. From the beginning of
the 20th century to today we have had more than 4000 serious events, of
which 1600 have produced victims, the displaced have been more than
700,000 and the damage to the Italian economy is incalculable. If we
restrict the field of observation to the period from 1948 to 2023 the
victims of floods have been 2006 up to the year 2018 - CNR data - and
another 72 from 2019 to 2023 -wikipedia data- . To these we must add the
1917 deaths following the Vajont landslide of 1963 and the 268 victims,
including 28 children, killed by the mudflow in Stava in Val di Fiemme
where on 19 July 1985 the banks of the Prestavel basin gave way, an
artificial tailings basin of the Prestavel mine, which caused the
release and descent into the valley of approximately 180,000 cubic
metres of mud, which violently overwhelmed the town of Stava, in the
municipality of Tesero. The tragedies of Vajont and Stava were not
caused by atmospheric events, but as in the case of floods, by the
underestimation of the dangers and the priority given to profit over the
protection of life.
To neglect and abandonment, climate changes have been added, with dry
winters, hot summers and short and violent atmospheric phenomena. A
situation that seems out of control at any time of the year. The
territories are overwhelmed by rainwater that repeatedly causes rivers
and streams to overflow and in summer cities and agriculture have to
deal with the now drastic reduction in water supply. Summer fires have
assumed growing proportions, destroying almost 170,000 hectares of
forest in 2021, a phenomenon aggravated by climate change, with high
temperatures and drought that have facilitated the work of arsonists.
Although the scientific community recognizes the responsibility of human
activities in relation to climate change, it does not seem that there is
a change of pace that can slow down the race towards the point of no
return. There are many events that confirm this statement. From
resistance to the abandonment of fossil fuels, to farmers' opposition to
a drastic reduction in pesticides in crops, or as Legambiente
extensively documents in the report "Urban Ecosystem 2023" - produced in
collaboration with Ambiente Italia and Il Sole 24 ORE -, to the
persistence of interventions that consume soil.
"Efficient use of soil" was one of the indicators used by experts to
classify Italian cities based on their approach to sustainability. The
report notes that "capital cities are decreasing in demographic terms,
but are expanding in terms of occupation and waterproofing of new soil".
Specifically, Legambiente observed that from 2017 to 2021 the provincial
capitals lost five hundred and thirteen thousand inhabitants (-2.9
percent), in the face of an increase in the land consumed per
inhabitant: from 364.8 square meters per inhabitant in 2017 to 372.1 in
2021.
What to do?
Even more than in other sectors where the fight for a radical change of
the existing is developing, in the field of ecological initiative there
is the need to decline the action keeping in mind the here and now and
the outcome of historical perspective. While not amplifying catastrophic
positions, we must take into serious consideration the alarm of the
scientific community that reaches the point of no return in 2030.
This forces us to deal with the times; if the real solution lies in the
ability to deeply impact production and consumption models, essentially
in overcoming capitalism as an economic-social model, it is equally true
that today we cannot even glimpse the beginnings of this perspective.
So, without losing historical perspective, we must fight for those
changes that allow us to take time.
- A ten-year moratorium on all new construction to stop land consumption.
The concreting of new residential settlements and infrastructure
(shopping centers, logistics hubs, etc.), reduces the space of natural
ecosystems that are fundamental for biodiversity and for the key role
in regulating the climate and absorbing carbon dioxide. The tax lever
could play an important role, in fact today tax breaks are higher for
new constructions than for renovations.
- Depaving programs to make urban areas "porous". The asphalt is removed
and areas composed of gravel, plants and beaten earth are restored.
Rainwater does not flow into the sewers, but is absorbed by the ground,
filtered by plants and destined for the aquifers, helping to combat
water crises. Not just parking areas, think of the vast areas intended
for parking cars around shopping centers, but cycle paths and pedestrian
areas closed to vehicles and returned to people.
- Reforestation with plans to plant billions of trees as advocated by
plant ethologist Stefano Mancuso and urban reforestation as suggested by
the WWF according to the "3-30-300" rule. That is, at least 3 trees
should be visible from every house, in every neighborhood there should
be at least 30% tree cover and within a maximum of 300 meters from the
home there should be a green space.
These actions that contribute to improving the quality of life and to
buffering the most devastating effects of climate change, however, have
the risk of becoming an alibi for those who are not willing to change
the policies and habits responsible for global warming and the
environmental crisis (transport, energy, food, use of materials with a
strong environmental impact such as plastic). Actions and objectives
that have the possibility of being put into practice only if the battle
for climate is linked to the battle for social justice (therefore trade
union and political), aware that just as there can be no advancement in
individual rights without social justice, there can be no climate
justice if one is not willing to question a system of economic, social
and political power.
http://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/wpAL/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Il-Cantiere-30-novembre-2024.pdf
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