Governo Italiano
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The Directorate General for European and International Activities of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security carries out cooperation activities in environmental matters following the commitments dictated by the main agreements that have taken place in recent years.
The main agreements are:
- 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (New York, September 2015)
- Addis Ababa Action Program (Addis Abeba, July 2015)
- Paris Agreement (COP 21) (Paris, December 2016)
The international cooperation that is outlined by these world meetings is completely transformed. Priority is the project to address central issues such as loss of biodiversity, climate change with the associated risk of disasters, migration, food insecurity, geopolitical tensions, institutional crises that undermine the stability of many countries, lack of work. The 2030 Agenda, with its 17 goals and 169 targets to be achieved by 2030, becomes the agreed guideline to follow for the activities of cooperation.
The Ministry of the Environemnt and Energy Security wanted to make these inputs its own through DM 170/2020 (Ministerial Decree n. 170, August 7, 2020) - Policy and planning act for international environmental cooperation 2020-2022 Annex 1 - Annex 2). The idea was to address the cooperation activities of the Ministry within the role that Italy is called to play on the international level for the protection and restoration of the environment by acting in a global perspective through negotiations and local with the implementation of projects, within the unitary national reference framework represented by Law August 11, 2014, n. 125 (General regulations on international cooperation for development).
DM 170/2020 identifies the topic areas of focus:
• Biodiversity, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and forests.
• Desertification, drought and land degradation.
• Tangible and intangible natural cultural heritage.
• Biocultural diversity and balanced approaches between humans and nature.
• Risks arising from natural disasters and extreme climate events.
• Water as a common good and universal human right.
• Climate-altering emissions and pollution factors.
• Marine litter.
• Circular economy and environmental restoration.
To date, 45 bilateral cooperation agreements and 170 project have been signed, 72 countries have been involved. In addition, 31 new agreements are currently under negotiation. The Decree has adopted a model of Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation activities to standardize the actions of bilateral environmental cooperation.
Existing agreements were reviewed in order to verify their relevance and compliance with the guidelines and issues of intervention contained in Ministerial Decree 170. In addition, monitoring mechanisms and evaluating activities are foreseen in order to improve effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and accountability in line with the Decree.
Scientific and technological cooperation, is given with a fundamental role, that of creating collaborations and partnerships to start synergies with institutions, universities and research centers on programs of environmental cooperation, environmental projects, training and capacity building or innovative and experimental initiatives.
Priority in terms of territorial areas has been given to Africa, and particularly, the Sahel, small island states and the ASEAN area.
The Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security works in close synergy with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, with the Italian Agency for Cooperation and with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, with which it has signed an agreement for the establishment of a common platform aimed at supporting projects and initiatives in developing countries with which the Ministry has started bilateral collaboration relationships.
