(see related stories).
The opposition 5-Star Movement (M5S)
said Wednesday that Premier Giorgia Meloni's speech at the COP29
conference in Baku was written by the fossil-fuel lobby after
she called for a pragmatic approach to be adopted to addressing
the climate crisis and talked of the potential of nuclear fusion
to deliver clean energy.
"Premier Meloni repeated the tired narrative put forward by the
gas and oil lobbies at the COP in Baku for the umpteenth time,
proposing solutions whose sole purpose is to allow them to
continue making profits at the expense of citizens," said M5S MP
and former environment minister Sergio Costa.
"She says that the solution to the climate crisis that exists
today is nuclear fusion, which does not exist yet.
"She tells this to Italians who they risk losing everything
every time it rains".
Italian critics of Green policies often accuse environmentalists
of adopting an "ideological" approach.
But Costa said Meloni's stance was the "ideological" one.
"It is surprising how ideological this approach, not ideological
environmentalism, is," he said.
"They deny scientific evidence, they do not care about the data
that exists and they entrench themselves in unsustainable but
convenient positions for their partisan interests.
"Climate denial is a dangerous ideology that is out of touch
with reality and risks dragging us into disaster to serve the
interests of the usual suspects".
Angelo Bonelli, an MP for the Green-Left Alliance (AVS), echoed
those sentiments.
"Premier Meloni's approach to the ecological transition is
ideological," Bonelli said.
"In Baku she gave her support to the fossil industry, breaching
the commitments made by the Italian government at COP28 in
Dubai.
"The climate crisis is causing massive damage not only to people
and nature, but also to our economy.
"Between floods and extreme weather events, such as drought, in
a year and a half we have exceeded 20 billion euros in damages,
costs that are paid by Italian citizens".
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