UN General Assembly
2021

Extreme weather events are expected to intensify over the next few decades. Estimates from the World Health Organization show that climate change already causes 150,000 deaths per year, which could become 250,000 between 2030 and 2050. We must act now to protect the planet, our economy and future generations. As Presidency of the G20 and COP26 co-chair together with the United Kingdom, Italy intends to reach ambitious goals on the three pillars of the Paris agreement: mitigation, adaptation and finance. Over the next decade, we must reduce as much as possible CO2 emissions produced by fossil fuels and other greenhouse gases, including methane. And we must work to adapt our infrastructure to climate shocks, that have become increasingly frequent and violent. Italy strongly supports the leading role of the European Union in the ecological transition, and in particular its commitment to a 55 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 and to net zero emissions by 2050. However, the EU currently accounts for only 8 per cent of global emissions, while G20 countries are responsible for 75 per cent.