This is what emerges from the study ‘Water: actions and investments for energy, people and territories’ carried out by The European house – Ambrosetti in collaboration with A2A, presented today at the Cernobbio forum
In 2022, a loss of 31% of water resources is estimated (36 billion cubic meters less) than in 2021. These are volumes equivalent to 4 times the size of Lake Bolsena (9.2 billion cubic metres) or 60 times the Lake Trasimeno (0.6 billion cubic meters). This is what emerges from the study ‘Water: actions and investments for energy, people and territories’ carried out by The European house – Ambrosetti in collaboration with A2A, presented today as part of the Cernobbio forum by A2A’s managing director, Renato Mazzoncini, and partner and head of scenarios and intelligence of The European house – Ambrosetti, Lorenzo Tavazzi.
In terms of volumes actually available for the various final uses, a drop of 7.1 billion cubic meters is estimated in one year, ”with negative impacts on the agricultural, civil and industrial sectors”, the document explains. Overall, this volume corresponds to the ”quantity of water needed to irrigate 641,000 hectares of agricultural land (equal to the agricultural area of Lazio), to the water consumed annually by over 14 million people (equal to the inhabitants of Lombardy and Piedmont) and to that necessary for the production of 82,000 manufacturing companies (the number of manufacturing companies in Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Emilia-Romagna)”.
Water, the study recalls, ”also activates a long and articulated industrial production chain, from the primary sector to manufacturing, up to the energy sector and the integrated water service, enabling the generation of 18% of the Italian industrial GDP, equal to 320 billion euros”. The availability of water in Italy ”is put at risk by the effects of climate change, of which 2022 represented the black year with peaks of thermal and rainfall anomalies and an increase in the frequency of extreme events, such as heavy rains (+50 ,2% annual average in the last 20 years) and flooding (+26.4% annual average in the same period)”.
Source-www.adnkronos.com