Italy is set to provide €2bn ($2.4bn) in aid to the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, which has been ravaged by heavy rainfall and flooding, which claimed 14 lives. The package of measures announced by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni includes the suspension of tax payments and utility bills, as well as mortgage payments in disaster zones. Temporary support will also be provided to jobless workers and laptops for students disrupted by the floods. The government is also considering raising the cost of admission to state museums by €1, and creating a special lottery to raise funds to pay for repairs to monuments, churches and museums impacted by the flooding.
The recent floods, which have displaced 36,000 people and caused significant damage to local agriculture and livestock production, also damaged beach resorts along the Adriatic Sea, hitting the tourist industry. Despite efforts by volunteers and rescue teams to remove water and mud from the streets, many residents have been unable to return home. Emilia-Romagna Governor, Stefano Bonaccini has estimated that road damage alone in the region is likely to cost around €1bn.
The funding package comes as the United Nations calls for transformative change and an end to the business-as-usual mindset to address ongoing issues and challenges resulting from climate change. Although developed countries are typically better equipped to respond to events such as floods and wildfires, even they cannot guarantee an adequate response in the face of extreme weather events.
The European Union currently has disaster relief support mechanisms in place, and funds have previously been mobilised to respond to a range of events such as floods, fires and earthquakes. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism, for instance, provides a coordinated response to disasters in Europe and globally by teaming up civil protection authorities across member states. The Mechanism consists of a voluntary pool of crisis management assets and expertise and provides help to participating states during emergencies such as floods, wildfires, pandemics and terrorist attacks.
Larger and more region-wide events may benefit from other funding mechanisms such as the European Union Solidarity Fund which allocates financial assistance to member states dealing with natural disasters and provides assistance for reconstruction and rehabilitation.
In 2020, the European Union pledged over €1.5bn in its proposed Climate Law, which outlines a commitment to more stringent targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Members of the European Parliament have called for a “massive and prolonged investment effort,” particularly in clean and renewable technologies and infrastructure. Earlier this month, the EU announced a package of measures and proposed regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Extreme weather events have been increasingly linked to climate change, and Italy is just one country to have been hit by severe flooding in recent years. Climate experts forecast that floodwaters are likely to continue to rise in the region, and common responses include the relocation of populations, considered critical for individual and community resilience, and investment in flood prevention infrastructure. Observers highlight the importance of raising the ambition and level of investment to strive towards more hydrological resilience in the face of unpredictable weather events.
The urgency to act and address the ongoing impacts of climate change were recently underscored by the sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report, which highlights the unequivocal role of human activity in altering the climate, warns that failure to step up and implement successful measures to reduce greenhouse gases could result in catastrophic global events and put the Earth on a path towards uncontrollable temperature rise. The report argues that while adaptation and mitigation actions must be ramped up, ultimately the only way to stabilise the climate and avoid the most severe impacts of climate change is to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
