The numerous crises arising at Europe’s borders, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the war in Iran driven by Israel and America, must not push the EU to deviate from the previously outlined sustainability roadmap. This was the common thread of the event “Energy and Climate Adaptation” by Intesa Sanpaolo held this morning in Milan.
The proceedings were opened by Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, chairman of the banking institution: “We invest in technology to increase the value of every single hour of work, not to replace humans with algorithms,” he explained, recalling that “Every step of our plan to 2029 must be sustainable.” For this reason, Intesa Sanpaolo will allocate 30% of new medium-to-long-term loans to sustainable credit, over 110 billion euros over the 4 years of the plan already presented by the CEO, Carlo Messina.
Moreover, decisive action is needed in projects to combat climate change, as explained immediately after by Enrico Giovannini, former Minister of Infrastructure and currently scientific director of Asvis: “So far we have thought, like in the paradox of the boiled frog, that we always have more time ahead of us, because apparently nothing ever happens the next day. Due to this mass cognitive distortion, we have lost 50 years. Now the time for gradualism is over.”
GIOVANNINI REBUKES TRUMP AND VON DER LEYEN
Also because, Giovannini recalled, “companies that invest in sustainability grow more and faster, contrary to what Trump says, who claims that sustainable finance is now dead.” But the US president was not the only politician criticized by the main figure of the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development, who also reproached Brussels: “The Second von der Leyen Commission, while contradicting part of what was declared by the first von der Leyen Commission, showing little consistency with itself, has finally begun to deal with climate adaptation.”
ENRICO LETTA’S WARNING ON THE “FAIR” TRANSITION
Former Prime Minister Enrico Letta also admitted that corrective measures are needed from community politics when it comes to the green approach: “If the transition is not accompanied, the most vulnerable parties risk opposing it. On this point, I note inattention both at the European and national levels. Mechanisms of support are needed – the former premier’s invitation – so that the transition is green and fair.”
For the president of the Institut Jacques Delors, moreover, “Of all the bottlenecks in the internal market, the energy one is the most insidious because it is based on the Treaties. The others, telecommunications, connectivity, are not. This – Letta explained – allows each country to protect its own energy mix, putting the interests of individual states ahead of the European interest.”
On the opposite front, Nicola Pesaresi, Deputy Director Energy, EU Commission, after recalling the sums put on the table by Brussels (“So far the budget authorized by the Commission has been 250 billion for decarbonization, 20 billion just in the last year, 100 billion in favor of energy-intensive companies,” he said referring to the emergency plan implemented following the invasion of Ukraine decided by Moscow) also warned: “With the Gulf crisis, the Commission adopted a new temporary framework focused on agriculture, fishing, and transport: less widespread spending which proved counterproductive.”
“We as the EIB,” echoed Nicola Pochettino, director of energy and environment projects at the European Investment Bank, “are also the European bank for the climate. We are therefore focused on projects against climate change. Our 2030 strategy plans to mobilize 1000 billion for the climate. We must focus on an energy network that in the future physically and digitally withstands shocks coming from outside.”
