(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 20 - Italy came 43rd in the latest Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) presented on Wednesday at the COP29 UN Climate Conference in Baku.
    The report drafted by Germanwatch, the Climate Action Network and the New Climate Institute, with Italian association Legambiente contributing, gave Italy a medium rating in greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, and a low one in renewable energy and climate policy.
    The report said new fossil fuel gas capacities have been authorized in Italy and the country's renewable energy potential has not been reached.
    It said there is no action plan for ending Italy's fossil fuel subsidies, which the latest IMF report says amount to USD 63 billion.
    It said Italy should set a more ambitious coal phase-out date and halt the expansion of fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure, as well as reaching an economy-wide emissions reduction of 65% by 2030 to be in line with the 1.5°C Paris goal.
    This year's ranking is a slight improvement on last year's, when Italy came 44th after dropping 15 positions.
    The CCPI tracks the climate mitigation performance of 63 countries and the EU.
    "The climate crisis is an existential threat to life on Earth.
    To reduce the magnitude of the crisis' impacts, we must limit global warming to 1.5°C, as decided in the Paris Agreement," says the CCPI website.
    "Only decisive action will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are responsible for climate change.
    "As an independent monitoring tool, the CCPI has a leading role in informing on the Paris Agreement's implementation phase.
    "Since 2005, the CCPI has provided analysis of countries' climate protection performance.
    "It creates transparency in climate policy, makes it possible to compare climate protection efforts, and lets you see progress and setbacks".
    Scientists say the climate crisis caused by human greenhouse gas emissions is making extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, supercharged storms and flooding more frequent and more intense. Italy has experienced a long series of such events in recent years.
    This year intense heatwaves and extreme droughts have impacted southern regions, with Sicily and Sardinia hit especially severely, while heavy rainfall has led to flooding in Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Marche, prompting the authorities to declare a state of emergency.
    Although there are many sources of the greenhouse gases that are causing global heating, the main driver is the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, sales of which generate huge profits for the world's energy giants.
    The climate crisis is having an increasingly big impact on Italian farmers in particular, according to a new report by the Legambiente environmental association with the Unipol insurance group.
    The Città Clima report said that 146 extreme-weather events causing significant damage to agriculture took place between the start of 2015 and September 20, 2024.
    The report said the sharp increase in such events in the last two years was particularly alarming, with over half of the events to have taken place over the last decade, 79, having happened in 2023 and 2024. It said the worst-hit regions were Piedmont with 20 events, followed by Emilia-Romagna (19), Puglia (17), Sicily and Veneto (14 each) and Sardinia (11). (ANSA).