The challenge of decarbonisation and competitiveness for B7 companies

The companies of the G7 countries met in Turin, a few hours following the official opening of the working sections of the G7 Environment which takes place in Venaria Reale, on the outskirts of the Piedmontese capital, to reiterate commitments and challenges linked to decarbonisation and transition energy. A match in which, as Fatih Birol, director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) recalled during his speech at the second ‘Industry Stakeholders Conference of the G7 2024’ which took place at the Industrial Union of Turin, the European industry is risking part of its competitiveness.

Emma Marcegaglia, chair of B7, reiterated the need to join forces, between public and private, in addressing the transition, starting from the need for targeted industrial policies. «There will not be a just transition, but only widespread delocalization – said Marcegaglia – if our governments are unable to converge national industrial policies towards the same shared objectives».

The G7 of the Environment in Turin is also an extraordinary opportunity for the Italian Government to reiterate various strategic aspects of the energy and environmental policy that the ministry directed by Gilberto Pichetto Fratin is carrying out: the “reopening” of the parenthesis on nuclear energy, the commitment to overturn the relationship between renewable sources and traditional sources by 2030, support for biofuels as a transition technology for the transport sector. «The European Industrial Alliance on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), launched by the European Commission in February 2024 with the aim of accelerating the development and deployment of SMRs in Europe in the early 2030s, is seeing a substantial Italian participation” reiterated the minister.

Pichetto reiterated the desire to close the chapter on coal power plants – «Brindisi and Civitavecchia must be closed tomorrow morning» underlined Minister Pichetto – and the Government’s determination to examine, also from a legal perspective, the possibility of pursuing the via nuclear energy, «a source that we believe can be part of that energy mix necessary for the security and development of the country, together with photovoltaic and geothermal energy» adds the minister.

In parallel with the B7, among other things, as part of Planet Week, a workshop organized by the Atlantic Council and Ispi Yong Talents Program took place, in collaboration with the Turin-based Newcleo – a company founded by the physicist Stefano Buono -, dedicated to the role of nuclear energy in the decarbonisation process. with one eye on emerging approaches to supporting nuclear projects and another on opportunities for the European nuclear industry.