Scenario and policies
Why it is important
Biodiversity is our universal heritage and is at the basis of human life: it guarantees water, raw materials, food, soil formation and climate regulation. Over the last 50 years, human activities have changed our ecosystems with unprecedented speed and intensity. The deterioration of air and soil quality due to human activities is one of the main causes and intensifies the negative effects of climate change. The consequences for man vary: serious health risks, primarily related to respiratory diseases, the loss of productive farmland and the growing risk of flooding and landslides due to soil sealing. It is essential to preserve the quality of air and soil because they are key to survival and fundamental for the economic-social wellbeing of nations.
soil area lost every year in Europe following the construction of new infrastructures (surface area of Berlin)
the impact of carbon dioxide emissions on the global Ecological Footprint in 2012 (41% in 1961)
the growth in soil consumption between the Fifties and 2016
soil area irreversibly lost every second in the first months of 2016 in Italy
the loss of global biodiversity over the past 30 years
the percentage of deaths in Italy caused by atmospheric pollution
Europe and Italy committed to protecting air
The Po Valley is the most polluted area in Italy and in Europe, along with the most industrialised areas of Germany, Poland and Great Britain. Traffic is responsible for 40% of PM10 and NOx emissions in Europe. A significant contribution also comes from the combustion of wood biomass (wood, wood chip and pellet). In February 2017, the European Union reinitiated the two proceedings brought against Italy seeing that the daily limits of PM10 had been exceeded in 30 zones of many regions, including Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto.