Ischia 2050, rains and landslides: EIB report to reduce risks

(ANSA) – ISCHIA, APRIL 19 – A document to protect Ischia from disasters and hydrogeological instability caused by climate changes over the next 50 years, which do not promise anything good: it is the “Report on the analysis of risks and vulnerabilities climate change on the island of Ischia”, a study that the European Investment Bank (EIB) developed, free of charge, and made available to the commissioner structure and the entire community on the basis of a collaboration agreement signed on 21 April. The report, presented today, was developed by evaluating the main physical risks deriving from climate hazards on the island in the medium term (until 2050), with particular attention to changes in rainfall and the risk associated with floods and landslides, from which Ischia is been hit twice in recent years, with a death toll of 13. The picture drawn by the report on Ischia is compatible with global scenarios: the increase in temperature could cause both an increase in “extreme” rainfall and in days of drought, and could have as a secondary effect the increase in floods and landslides. And landslides are considered the greatest source of risk for the island’s buildings by the EIB, which then identifies a series of critical issues in the infrastructure which it recommends eliminating or drastically reducing: from the risks of the water supply system to those of the electricity network, to the lack of of a continuous monitoring and maintenance plan for the road network. In its report, the Bank suggests further studies for more precise risk assessments in all six municipalities of the island and provides investment recommendations for interventions capable of mitigating natural risks both in current and changing conditions climate, both in the short and medium-long term. The Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, who spoke at the presentation of the report via videoconference, said that “the country is fragile and Ischia is a small, relevant and fragile prototype. The Ispra data are known to everyone: on the there has been a very notable increase in landslides compared to 2021 data, a phenomenon that affects at least 90% of Italian municipalities that are subject to hydrogeological risk. Now more than ever we must strive to invest in efficiency and the ability to respond immediately. to predict, rather than intervening after the fact and only repairing”. (HANDLE).