News

CIRO Roadshow 2025

Data, strategies and good practices to guide the transition of the Italian regions

CIRO is the database that collects data on the climate performance of the Italian regions.
The Italian Regions, key players in the climate and energy transition, will be protagonists of the CIRO Roadshow 2025, an event organized on 6 March by Italy for Climate within Key - The Energy Transition Expo.
During the event, the new edition of the CIRO 2025 database will be presented, developed by Italy for Climate in collaboration with ISPRA, launched for the first time last year and part of the SISTAN (National Statistical System

The landscape and beauty of our cities. Is planting trees easy and right?

On 19 February 2025, as part of the Myplant & Garden (International Green Expo) event at the Milan - Rho fair, will take place the conference "The landscape and beauty of our cities. Is planting trees easy and right?" with he participation of operators and experts in the sector at an international, national and local level.
ISPRA will illustrate the PNRR-PNC project "The good use of green and blue spaces for the promotion of health and well-being", started in 2023 and implemented with the technical and financial support of the Ministry of Health.

TETHYS4ADRION project

Enhancing Cross-Border Cooperation for Riverine Plastic Litter Reduction in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas
The TETHYS4ADRION project studies the role of rivers in the spread of plastic pollution in the Adriatic-Ionian region, and has the general objective of developing mitigation strategies in order to reduce the input of waste from waterways to the sea.
The project will develop operational solutions that combat river plastic pollution by restoring the integrity of river ecosystems. Best practices to address the problem will be identified, which will be tested and validated through the collaboration of all stakeholders involved in the pilot areas.

ISPRA is partner of the project

BiodiversiTalk#6 -Research on the Green Plans

Series of seminars part of the Spoke 5 research activities of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC)
The BiodiversiTalks series of seminars aims to stimulate discussion and fuel the research activities of Spoke 5 of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), offering reflections and good practices to understand how plans, projects and co-creation processes can contribute to conserving and increasing biodiversity in urban contexts.

The PNRR-MER at the Eudi Show in Bologna: an "environmental restoration" to save our seabed from ghost nets

Ghost nets suffocate our seas. At the Eudi Show in Bologna, the most important event in Italy dedicated to the world of diving, Cecilia Silvestri of ISPRA, on 22 February, will illustrate the initiatives for the recovery of ghost nets envisaged in the PNRR-MER project, the largest PNRR program on the restoration of habitats and seabeds.

The recovery of ghost networks represents a true "environmental restoration". In fact, the technical underwater operators dive with meticulousness and respect towards the submerged heritage, freeing the seabed from abandoned nets that damage precious ecosystems.

The protection of marine ecosystems, the techniques for removing the so-called 'ghost nets' - missing or abandoned fishing tools that continue to trap marine fauna - will be at the center of the intervention of the ISPRA researcher. Thanks to the initiatives launched as part of the PNRR-MER project, the joint commitment of institutions, sector operators and volunteers, the aim is to recover and recycle these nets, thus giving new life to the seabed and protecting biodiversity.

Climathon Ferrara

In the whole of the Progetto USAGE the Municipality of Ferrara is organizing next 21 March a real marathon of ideas to explore climate data and solve the city's most urgent challenges. In collaboration with Deda Next, EIT Climate-KIC, The Lisbon Council, Sipro and Laboratorio Aperto Ferrara.

The event represents a unique opportunity to co-design - together with experts and professionals, environmental and climate data specialists, university students and researchers, members of associations and citizens - new tools, processes and solutions to address the most urgent climate challenges (heat islands, flooding from intense rainfall, loss of biodiversity).

New web site Copernicus-Italia.it

The new web site www.copernicus-italia.it dedicated to national activities in the context of the developments of the European Copernicus Earth Observation Program is online, providing complete, free and open access to data and information deriving from the integration of satellite data with in situ data and forecast models.

Avian botulism and wild birds: first report in Italy of a severe outbreak in a protected area

Between late summer and early fall 2019 and during the following three years, the outbreak occurred in a wetland of Northern Italy, in Regional Park ”Delta del Po Emilia-Romagna”. A study, published in “Animals” MDPI journal and written by ISPRA researchers, analyzes the sequence of events in relation to environmental conditions and mitigation management measures.

Contaminated Sites. Experience in rehabilitation interventions

The XVI Edition of the SiCon Workshop “Contaminated Sites. Experiences in rehabilitation interventions” will take place in Brescia on 12, 13 and 14 February 2025 at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Brescia. The SiCon is organized by the Sanitary-Environmental Engineering groups of the University of Brescia, the University of Catania and SAPIENZA University of Rome, in collaboration with ANDIS (National Association of Sanitary-Environmental Engineering), the GITISA (Italian Group of Sanitary-Environmental Engineering) and the CSISA Onlus (Study Center for Sanitary-Environmental Engineering) of Catania.

COP 16.2 concluded

On 27 February 2025, in Rome, Governments agreed on the strategy to raise the funds necessary to protect biodiversity and achieve the action objectives of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), successfully concluding the work of the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity, COP16, suspended in Cali, Colombia, in 2024.

Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity worked into the early hours of the morning to finalize agreements on biodiversity financing, planning, monitoring, reporting and review, as well as the full set of indicators to measure global and national progress towards the implementation of the KMGF, agreed in Montreal at COP15 in 2022.

After intensive negotiations, the Parties to the Convention agreed on a path forward in terms of resource mobilization, in order to close the global financing gap for biodiversity and achieve the goal of mobilizing at least US$200 billion per year by 2030, including US$20 billion per year in international flows by 2025, rising to US$30 billion by 2030.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

The year "2025" marks the 10th anniversary of International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGS) which is celebrated around the world on 11 February. Established on 22 December 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly, the day recognizes the vital role that women and girls play in science and technology.

Gender equality in science is critical to building a better future for all, but women and girls continue to face systemic barriers and biases in pursuing scientific careers.

The United Nations General Assembly decided that an annual observance was needed to recognize the critical role that women and girls play in science and technology. Since then, this day has been used to promote "full and equal access and participation in science for women and girls"

Closing the gender gap in science requires breaking stereotypes, promoting role models who inspire girls, supporting the advancement of women through targeted programs, and promoting inclusive environments through policies and actions that promote inclusion, diversity and equity.

Italian Geothermal Forum

The event promotes the debate on the state and prospects of geothermal energy, stimulating discussion between institutions, research, industry, professionals and territories. The development of this sector is strategic to accelerate the transition towards energy security and climate neutrality.

The program includes the holding of plenary sessions aimed at exploring current and future energy policy and market scenarios, on a national and European scale. The discussion will also have the participation of representatives of national and regional institutions.

New ISPRA publications on remediation technologies: Multiphase Extraction (MPE) and Soil Washing (SW)

ISPRA has recently published two new technical reports dedicated to the Multiphase Extraction (MPE) and Soil Washing (SW) remediation technologies, developed within the activities of the IMPEL network (European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law). These documents represent an important contribution to the dissemination of innovative solutions for the sustainable management of contaminated sites, promoting alternative methodologies to traditional excavation and landfill disposal interventions.

Published the report "Intercomparison on the taxonomy of freshwater benthic diatoms (2023-2024)"

The report presents the results of an interlaboratory comparison aimed at evaluating the performance of the participating laboratories in the taxonomic identification of benthic diatoms in surface water bodies.

Environmental protection and economic activity to reflect on the prospects three years after the modification of articles 9 and 41 of the Constitution

Three years after the constitutional amendment of articles 9 and 41, WWF Italy is organizing an event that will explore the relationship between environmental protection, economic activities and public intervention in the economy, with the contribution of academics, institutions, business representatives and civil society.

Winter School on Environmental Impact Assessment

The call for participation in the Winter School on Environmental Impact Assessment in collaboration with La Sapienza di Roma has been published. The activity includes frontal and laboratory teaching and is reserved for university and PhD students. The topics addressed in this edition: surface waters; excavated earth and rocks.

Registration deadline: February 20th.

12th National Food Waste Prevention Day

National Food Waste Prevention Day is celebrated on February 5th, this year's theme, #timetoact, underlines the importance of immediate action to combat this phenomenon and achieve United Nations goal 12.3

ISPRA has just published the update on food waste in the new 2025 indicator database. The sad discovery, a dozen years ago, that a third of food is not consumed but wasted, aroused enormous interest from governments, academia and the sector private. Since then, although awareness and efforts have increased, food waste has not decreased. Compared to the first global estimates by FAO in 2011 (1.3 billion tonnes), recent studies that also consider losses in the field report 2.5 billion tonnes, equal to 40% of production (WWF, 2021)

In order to estimate waste in the entire Italian food system (systemic waste) ISPRA includes, in addition to losses in production and consumption chains such as FAO and UNEP, also overfeeding beyond recommended needs and the net loss in livestock farming resulting from input conversion edibles for humans (wheat, soy, corn, etc.). The updated result is that approximately 66% of the food energy produced is wasted. This tells us that three times what is needed on average is produced and is distributed unfairly and wasted. In terms of kcal/person/day there is an increase of 17% between 2015 and 2021. Faced with a population reduction of 2.7%, the country's waste (kcal/day) increases by 14%. The causal trend already identified by ISPRA is confirmed. The growth of industrial efficiencies generates increases in overproduction and supply which then amplify waste and impacts (an effect known scientifically as the Jevons paradox or "bounce").

Computing riverine inputs of macrolitter into the Central Tyrrhenian Sea (Western Mediterranean Sea) from the Tiber River during the 1st post-pandemic year

Published in the "peer reviewed" journal Science of the Total Environment, a joint ISPRA and Uniroma Tre study on the floating macrolitter that reaches the sea from the Tiber river through its two mouths (Fiumara grande and Canale di Fiumicino) with a particular temporal focus on 1 ° post-pandemic year.
In the period investigated, the results confirmed the high number of macrolitter transported by the river, with an estimated density at the mouth equal to 1170±151 objects/km2; However, compared to previous years, a reduction in macrolitter was detected with a percentage increase in single-use macro-waste linked to both packaging and objects linked to the pandemic period. Furthermore, much of the waste reaches the sea already fragmented.

Further information

PCTO "Climate change: understand to act"

The students of the 5 BIO of the “Carducci-Volta-Pacinotti” Higher Institute of Piombino took part in the path for transversal skills and orientation (PCTO), organized by two ISPRA researchers, committed to understanding the main causes climate change, the impacts on avifauna and migratory species and the study of marine alien species that are colonizing the Mediterranean Sea.

Second edition of the "Virtual Conference on Geoconservation"

The second edition of the "Virtual Conference on Geoconservation" is organized by the ProGEO South-Western Europe working group which includes Andorra, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The event is organized in collaboration with ISPRA, University La Sapienza of Rome and University of Perugia.

The conference will be held on 27-28-29 March and is online and free participation.

Reportage "Tarquinia salt pans, a treasure chest of biodiversity and geodiversity"

The Saline di Tarquinia Nature Reserve is a hyperhaline wetland area, among the few remaining in the Tyrrhenian Sea, in whose extension various geological-environmental aspects are represented. The area is mostly occupied by shallow water basins, almost all communicating, salty and hyperhaline, separated by stone and wooden embankments. The Tarquinia Saline, currently SPA (Special Protection Area) and SAC (Special Conservation Area), became a protected area in 1980, as it was recognized as having a high naturalistic value, with environmental characteristics particularly suitable for stopping and the nesting of numerous migratory birds.

Air quality monitoring: the contribution of Copernicus and national collaboration

How is air pollution monitored in Italy? Which bodies are responsible for this and how does the European Earth observation program Copernicus support monitoring and forecasting of air quality at national, regional and local levels?

Published "The environmental challenge for sustainable finance"

Methodologies, information and environmental indicators

The disclosure requirements introduced by the regulation on sustainable finance are so substantial and complex that they imply the need for an adequate technical support framework in the implementation phase of the discipline, which helps companies and investors to fully understand the contents and methods for generating the environmental information required by the new standards.

The purpose of the Guideline “The environmental challenge for sustainable finance: methodologies, information and environmental indicators” is to provide an operational tool that aims to provide methodological support and guidance for environmental sustainability reporting, in accordance with the new European standards

Tales of monitoring and river molluscs

On the occasion of World Wetlands Day 2025, the Participatory Science project "#teveremolluschifantastici...e dove trovarli"" is organizing an excursion on 1 February to the Nazzano Tevere-Farfa Regional Nature Reserve to talk about river ecology, freshwater molluscs and water monitoring with practical experiments. The project aims to increase awareness of river biodiversity and contribute to the conservation of inland water ecosystems, also by mapping the presence and distribution of molluscs, with a pilot project on the Tevere river; the data collected flows into the portal of the National Biodiversity Network.

Darwin Day 2025

Darwin Day is a celebration honoring Charles Darwin held on the anniversary of his birth on 12 February.
Kosmos, the natural history museum of the University of Pavia, in collaboration with the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and with the “Lazzaro Spallanzani” Department of Biology and Biotechnology of the University of Pavia, is organizing a conference in which researchers and university professors will address the different aspects of evolution

World wetlands day and the Puglia campaign carried out by ISPRA

The number of aquatic birds has been one of the main metrics for assessing the conservation status of wetlands since the Ramsar Convention: an accurate method that is not affected by political pressure or exploitation. This January too, ISPRA carried out its share of field activities, together with the vast network of external detectors that widely covers the national territory as a perfect example of citizen science. The Institute's cars have been spotted everywhere, from the frozen reservoirs of Cadore to the mud of Capitanata, with demanding stops in the Venetian lagoons and some visits to the Tyrrhenian side.

Presentation of the volume "Drought, scarcity and water crises - The contribution of research to support the definition of the water balance"

The volume is a collective work written by the “Drought, scarcity and water crises” working group of the Department of Earth System Sciences and Environmental Technologies of the Cnr, with the contribution of around 100 authors from various Cnr Institutes and the support from ISPRA, the Civil Protection Department and the commissioner structure for water scarcity.
The objective of this presentation is to open a dialogue between the main national bodies and institutions involved in the topics of drought, management and governance of water resources.

Areas subject to sinkholes - ISPRA Environmental Indicators Data base

Sinkholes are chasms that suddenly open in the ground, with diameters that can reach hundreds of meters.
Depending on the causes from which they originate, they are divided into sinkholes of natural origin and sinkholes of anthropogenic origin.
According to ISPRA data, the regions most exposed to natural sinkholes include Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Puglia, Campania and Toscana, while cities such as Rome, Naples and Cagliari are particularly vulnerable to sinkholes caused by human activities.

ISPRA environmental Indicatoris data base

Annual report Waste Commission

The annual report of the parliamentary commission of inquiry into illicit activities connected to the waste cycle and other environmental and agri-food offenses was held today at the Chamber of Deputies. 85 hearings have been held so far by the parliamentary commission of inquiry on illicit activities connected to the waste cycle and on other environmental and - this is a recently introduced area - agri-food offences. In detail, 71 hearings were held at the institutional offices of Palazzo San Macuto and 14 at the Prefectures of the local areas where the members were on mission. This was reported by Jacopo Morrone, president of the commission established in this legislature, while illustrating the annual report to the Chamber.

Current and future impacts of climate change: new assessment and forecasting tools thanks to the EU Copernicus programme

Estimate the future availability of water resources and develop future projections of heat waves based on greenhouse gas emission scenarios, evaluate the risks of forest fires, predict the possible frequency of drought events and temperature and precipitation anomalies based on seasonal forecast. These are the objectives of the cooperation between national and regional bodies within the framework of the National Collaboration Program (NCP) with the European Center for Medium-Term Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) promoted by the European Union for the use of the tools of the Copernicus Service dedicated to climate change (C3S).