ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Francesco Fonderico, Elettra Monaci, Eugenio Fidelbo and Marco Pellizzola, Ambientalex Studio Legale
change adaptation, thereby serving as the primary information resource in Italy on this issue. Furthermore, since ratifying the Paris Agreement, the EU block has enacted an ambitious, binding, legisla - tive framework for delivering on its initial NDC, updat - ed on 16 October 2023, taking into account the “Fit for 55” legislative package with the scope to cut its net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. 2.2 Constitutional Framework for the National Legal Regime for Climate Change Until recently, Constitutional case law had long rec - ognised the environment as a fundamental value of the Italian legal system, on the basis of Articles 9, 32, and, more broadly, Article 2 of the Constitution, even though environmental protection was not expressly mentioned in the constitutional text. With Constitutional Law No 1/2001, among other things, the regulatory competencies in the field of environmental and ecosystem protection have been attributed exclusively to the State (Article 117 (2), letter s), Constitution). It was only with Constitutional Law No 1/2022, how - ever, that Articles 9 and 41 of the Italian Constitution were emended, expressly introducing environmental protection to the constitutional values. The Article 9 (3) of the Constitution now states that the Republic “protects the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems, also in the interests of future gen - erations. State law regulates the types and forms of animal protection”. In its ruling No 105/2024, the Con - stitutional Court held that the government’s granting of extraordinary authorisation, without time limits, to keep the plant operating even though it was harm - ful to the environment, was contrary to Article 9 of the Constitution. Furthermore, the new reference to the principle of sustainable development opens up new scenarios for protecting future generations from climate change. 2.3 National Legal Regime The environmental legal framework is mainly (but not only) set forth by Legislative Decree No 152/2006 (also
known as the “Environmental Code” or “Environmen - tal Consolidated Act” – ECA). However, the ECA does not provide a specific disci - pline on combating climate change. Climate change regulation is instead implemented through a combina - tion of EU law, sectoral legislation and strategic plan - ning instruments. Key national instruments include Decree-Law No 111/2019 (the “Climate Decree”), introducing urgent measures for climate policy co-ordination and air quality improvement, as well as budgetary measures establishing dedicated climate funding (ie, the Italian Climate Fund under Law No 234/2021, as amended). At the strategic level, climate policy is framed by the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (Regula - tion (EU) 2018/1999), the Ecological Transition Plan (Article 57-bis ECA), and the National Action Plan for the reduction of GHG emission levels (Kyoto Protocol ratification No 120/2002), which support the imple - mentation of Italy’s EU and international climate com - mitments. Mitigation Climate change mitigation in Italy is primarily driven by EU law and its national implementation. The central instrument is the EU Emissions Trad - ing System (EU ETS), transposed into Italian law by Legislative Decree No 47/2020. The ETS establishes a cap-and-trade system covering energy-intensive industries, power generation and aviation, account - ing for approximately 40% of national GHG emissions. Operators are required to surrender emission allow - ances and comply with monitoring, reporting and veri - fication obligations, subject to administrative penalties in case of non-compliance. Non-ETS sectors are regulated under the Effort Sharing Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2018/842, as amended), which imposes binding annual emissions- reduction targets on member states. Italy is required to achieve a 43.7% reduction in emissions from non- ETS sectors by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
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