On April 12, 2016, the Permanent Mission of Italy will host a high-level conference on the topic of “Fighting Climate Change: Sharing Italy’s Innovative Technologies.” The conference will give an overview of some of the leading technologies produced by Italy to address and prevent the harmful effects of climate change.
With 8,300 kilometers of coastal shores and more than 450 islands, Italy is one of the countries most impacted by climate change. Rising sea levels and ocean acidification damage Italy’s marine ecosystem and the entire economy that depends on it. Italy is at the same time a country with thousands of kilometers of mountain ranges. The negative repercussions of climate change have also been felt in these geographic areas: for years the Italian population has been struggling with the effects of rapidly melting glaciers, along with avalanches and landslides in mountainous and hilly regions.
The Permanent Mission of Italy to the UN is thus proud to share with the UN membership a few outstanding examples of Italian technology in the field, in the hope that this demonstration may spark ideas and strengthen the universal commitment we have undertaken to combat climate change, in the spirit of the agreement reached at COP 21 in Paris.
Objectives
The conference will provide practical examples of how Italian technologies seek to address and prevent the effects of climate change. The goal of these technologies is to:
- Protect islands and coastlines from the rising levels of the seas and oceans;
- Use satellite imagery to track and monitor the impact of climate change (desertification, floods, pollution, rising sea levels, natural catastrophes, melting of glaciers);
- Protect and monitor marine areas through the use of robotic fish schools;
- Produce energy from clean and renewable sources (solar and marine), so as to no longer depend on polluting energy sources;
- Monitor sea levels to prevent flooding and inundations.
In addition, during the week of April 11-15, 2016, there will also be an exhibit of these technologies – illustrated through large panels, videos, and scale models – in two areas of the UN General Assembly building: the Delegates’ Entrance and the Basement Corridor.
View the program and concept note of the conference.
Watch: How Italian engineering counters rising sea levels in Venice
