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    (ANSA) - ROME, NOV 13 - The opposition 5-Star Movement (M5S) said Wednesday that Premier Giorgia Meloni's speech at the COP29 conference in Baku was written by the fossil-fuel lobby after she called for a pragmatic approach to be adopted to addressing the climate crisis and talked of the potential of nuclear fusion to deliver clean energy.
    "Premier Meloni repeated the tired narrative put forward by the gas and oil lobbies at the COP in Baku for the umpteenth time, proposing solutions whose sole purpose is to allow them to continue making profits at the expense of citizens," said M5S MP and former environment minister Sergio Costa.
    "She says that the solution to the climate crisis that exists today is nuclear fusion, which does not exist yet.
    "She tells this to Italians who they risk losing everything every time it rains".
    Italian critics of Green policies often accuse environmentalists of adopting an "ideological" approach.
    But Costa said Meloni's stance was the "ideological" one.
    "It is surprising how ideological this approach, not ideological environmentalism, is," he said.
    "They deny scientific evidence, they do not care about the data that exists and they entrench themselves in unsustainable but convenient positions for their partisan interests.
    "Climate denial is a dangerous ideology that is out of touch with reality and risks dragging us into disaster to serve the interests of the usual suspects".
    Angelo Bonelli, an MP for the Green-Left Alliance (AVS), echoed those sentiments.
    "Premier Meloni's approach to the ecological transition is ideological," Bonelli said.
    "In Baku she gave her support to the fossil industry, breaching the commitments made by the Italian government at COP28 in Dubai.
    "The climate crisis is causing massive damage not only to people and nature, but also to our economy.
    "Between floods and extreme weather events, such as drought, in a year and a half we have exceeded 20 billion euros in damages, costs that are paid by Italian citizens".
    Italy's biggest opposition party, the centre-left Democratic Party, said Meloni had been "consistent" and had confirmed that nationalists like her concerned with national sovereignty above all else were destroying the climate.
    "Premier Meloni has been consistent this time," said MEP Annalisa Corrado, the PD leader in the House Environment Committee Marco Simiani and the leader of the Environment Committee of the Senate Nicola Irto, currently in Azerbaijan to follow the work of the World Conference.
    "The speech in Baku perfectly reflects the policies of her government: fewer renewables, more fossil fuels and conflicting announcements on the return to nuclear power, given the statements of some Ministers and the center-right coalition in these two years.
    "If we add this to the reduction in resources against hydrogeological instability and the Climate Fund (cut by the Meloni Government by approximately 840 million euros in the three-year period 2024-2026) the picture is very clear.
    "The fight against climate change for this Right, both Italian and global, is not only not a priority but represents an ideological constraint to be torn down in the name of progress.
    "The consequences of this attitude, especially for a Prime Minister who now believes herself to be the only link between Europe and the United States, will be dramatic and will involve the new generations.
    "The sovereignists are effectively dismantling all the agreements made to date to save the planet". (ANSA).