Page 21 - Supplemento 2-2016 (ENG)

Tackling Environmental Crime throUgh standardized Methodologies

Welcome address of Gian Luca Galletti
Minister of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea

I would like to thank Comandante Generale Del Sette and Engineer
Patrone for giving us the opportunity to meet today, confirming the great cul-
tural sensitivity of the Corps towards the environment. I would also like to con-
gratulate you on the program which I find both exhaustive and rich in scientific
reports of the highest standards.

I am sure that some events of 2015 will leave a mark on the life of our
country and of the entire planet in the coming years. They were called to mind
earlier by minister Gentiloni, who drew attention to the environmental pro-
blems quoted in the Pope’s encyclical “Laudato Si” which goes beyond the pro-
blem of the environment; it brings together, under problems of the environ-
ment, all the problems of our society, both social and, above all, ethical and
moral. The Pope himself was the first to place the theme of ecological debt
on a global stage, uniting all countries of the world and calling upon them to
confront the problem of the environment together.

Then we had the great Paris agreement. I consider this one of the greatest
achievements of international diplomacy NOT only the issue of the
Environment hung in the balance in Paris in 2015, but also the support for
international negotiations.

21 years of preparation led to COP21, named after the number of years
spent working on the agreement. For 21 years small steps forward were taken
and great disappointments were endured. I remember Copenhagen, but I also
recall the same agreement of Kyoto, far less ambitious compared to that of
Paris 2015. In Kyoto the countries that committed to reducing their own car-
bon emissions represented only 12% of global emissions, in other words little
more than the European countries. In Paris 2015, on the other hand, the coun-
tries that committed to reducing their emissions represent 97% of global emis-
sions. Therefore, in the nine years between 2007 and 2016, sensitivity towards
the environment has developed but, above all, the ability of international diplo-
macy has been enhanced to the point of ensuring that 175 countries signed the
agreement.

19