Climate Week kicks off in New York, without Italy

Italy and Europe are limping to New York's Climate Week , one of the most important events in climate diplomacy. Traditionally held in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly, this year it will take place from the 22nd to the 28th of this month, with speakers including Simon Stiell , UN climate chief, and Teresa Ribera , European Commission Vice President for a Just and Clean Transition. And on Wednesday, September 24, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will host a Climate Summit, as part of UN General Assembly Week.

“By COP30 , all Parties to the Paris Agreement will have to submit new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) reflecting bold actions for the next decade,” Guterres recalls. “These updated plans represent an opportunity to harness the benefits of a just, resilient, and low-carbon future.”

Tuesday's meeting is intended to be a platform for leaders to present their new NDCs. There is much anticipation for the expected speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping , while there are no illusions about the Trump Administration, which, at home and abroad, is dismantling US climate policies. Eighty heads of state and government are scheduled to speak, but Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will not be there.

And what about Italy? And Europe? Our country arrives in New York with confused ideas about its objectives and very troubled waters within the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security. The delegation that departed Rome a few hours ago did not include Special Envoy for Climate Francesco Corvaro , despite several events in the Big Apple involving the participation of Special Envoys from participating nations. The decision to leave Corvaro at home is attributable to Alessandro Guerri , Director General of European, International and Sustainable Finance at the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Security, who did not authorize the mission to New York. The conflict can certainly be explained by a "personality incompatibility" between the two, as those familiar with them say. But it also stems from the genesis and management, entirely Italian, of the role of Special Envoy for Climate. His appointment dates back to the Draghi government. After a lengthy tug-of-war between then-Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and his government colleague Roberto Cingolani (Ecological Transition), a compromise was reached: a second-tier figure, chosen by the Farnesina (Special Envoys are its prerogative) but based in the Ministry on Via Colombo and therefore under Cingolani's control. This was nothing like figures of great stature and decision-making power like John Kerry in the Biden Administration or Jennifer Morgan in the German government led by Social Democrat Olaf Scholz . Morgan, for example, after years as the global leader of Greenpeace, held the status of undersecretary of government in Berlin.

In Italy, however, the choice for the first Special Climate Envoy (January 2022) fell on diplomat Alessandro Modiano , currently ambassador to Mexico. But Giorgia Meloni's government could not keep a Five Star Movement appointee, no matter how technical. And so, to fill a position that already exists but is of no real interest, and which a right-wing government cannot eliminate without sparking controversy and accusations of climate change denial, a replacement was found (August 2023): Francesco Corvaro , professor of Technical Physics and "close" to Acquaroli, governor of the Marche region, the Italian Democratic Party (FdI). However, his academic background makes Corvaro a stranger in the corridors of the ministry. And no one, neither at the Ministry of Economic Development nor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bothered to fill an office that exists in all Western governments: "He was never told what he should or should not do, with the risk of duplicating himself, if not outright stepping on others' toes," says one of his colleagues.

Guerri's decision to leave the Italian Special Envoy for Climate in Rome while the most important event in the world, excluding the UN climate conferences, is underway in New York seems to be the definitive scrapping not only of Corvaro but of the very figure of the Envoy: those who aren't there are of no use. The problem is that our country arrives at the American meeting not only without its Special Envoy, but also without any clear idea of ​​the cuts in greenhouse gas emissions it will commit to in the coming years (the famous NDCs Guterres talks about) . Because the entire Union is lacking clear ideas, it is missing the New York opportunity to assume, perhaps together with China , the role of climate leader after the void left by the United States.

Last week, European environment ministers failed to reach an agreement on the NDCs and deferred the decision to the heads of state and government who will meet on October 22 and 23 for the European Council, too late for the UN event the day after tomorrow and just days before the start of COP30 in Belém, Brazil. However, a "declaration of intent" has been produced to be read at the UN headquarters next Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will likely use it in her speech to say that while the EU is still discussing the issue, it is doing so within a range of values ​​to choose from, values ​​that nonetheless demonstrate that Europe does not want to backtrack on the Paris Agreement . Between internal disputes within the European Environment Agency (EMA) and difficulties at the European level, one wonders what the Italian delegation's contribution to COP30 will be. For now, there's only one certainty: our negotiators haven't yet booked accommodations in the Brazilian city hosting the event, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reassures them: we're negotiating with Costa Crociere to reserve cabins for you on one of their ships, which will be docked in the port of Belém.