Sea: ENEA and Confcommercio present sustainability project "La Spezia del futuro"

"La Spezia del Futuro: a model of sustainable and circular development for a resilient and competitive territory", is the project developed by ENEA in collaboration with Confcommercio and presented  to the Mayor of Rio Maggiore, the Mayor of Lerici and the representatives of the Municipality of Spezia and the Cinque Terre National Park, in a meeting promoted by the Port System Authority of the Eastern Ligurian Sea. The project aims at identifying the most effective interventions to counteract the impact of climate change on the environment, infrastructures and territory of La Spezia, with particular reference to production, tourism and port activities. The project focuses on possible mitigation strategies and the design of adequate defenses at sea to protect from the risk of extreme climate events local excellences like the commercial port, the Cinque Terre, marinas, beaches, and mussel culture activities that have suffered serious repercussions from the violent storms of last autumn.

"With this project – Roberto Morabito, Head of the ENEA Sustainability Department, said- we want to give to the La Spezia territory concrete answers and tools to face the challenges connected to the impact of climate change, for a sustainable “blue growth”,  with new job opportunities and positive effects on the community. This is a first "concrete" application of the Memorandum of Understanding on sustainability signed last February in Rome by the Presidents of Confcommercio–Imprese per l’Italia, Carlo Sangalli, and ENEA, Federico Testa”.

"It’s estimated that sea level in the coastal area of ​​La Spezia will rise by over 30 cm in 2050 and up to over 1 meter in 2100”, pointed out the President of Confcommercio La Spezia Gianfranco Bianchi.  This fact cannot be overlooked by Confcommercio, which is an important part of the entrepreneurial fabric linked to the sea ".

"The valuable work started with ENEA - said the President of Federlogistica-Conftrasporto Luigi Merlo- has the objective of making decision makers understand the need to re-think port planning. In fact, we risk compromising a large part of the Italian port activities if we do not act promptly, as the institutional community in La Spezia has well understood ”.

"A few months ago – Carla Roncallo, President of the Port System Authority of the Eastern Ligurian Sea said – I attended the presentation of the ENEA study on the effects of sea level rise on a national scale. This focus on our territory is really important, because if we are capable of understanding the real extent of the effects expected, we could try to prevent or at least mitigate them. I deeply thank ENEA, Confcommercio and Federlogistica for the attention shown to our complex and fragile territory. "

The project also lays the foundations for starting, in the near future, an integrated model of sustainable and circular development to make the territory of La Spezia more attractive, resilient and competitive. La Spezia, in fact, could become the first national hub of 'blue growth', where to experiment the integrated and sustainable development of activities related to the sea, from the transport system and infrastructures to tourist accommodation.