The environmentalists who had accused the broad coalition of blocking renewable energy have already had a change of heart.

For the group of 120 ‘independent’ environmentalist academics, activists and researchers, the climate crisis is the world’s greatest threat, but their political world is much more limited: they do not venture beyond the Pillars of Hercules of the centre-left. Thus, in recent days, they concluded their 40-day tour of the political spectrum: after meeting Elly Schlein in August, followed by Italia Viva and Più Europa, the environmentalists made their final stop at the M5S headquarters to speak with Giuseppe Conte. The tour began following an open letter sent at the end of May to the leaders of the centre-left to tackle head-on the contradictions surrounding the energy transition: plenty of talk but little action. In the newspapers, slogans in favour of clean energy sources are bandied about, but then at regional level everything grinds to a halt. The signatories – who numbered 75 at the start and later rose to 120 – whilst declaring their open hostility towards Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government, wanted to tackle the issue head-on: “We cannot fail to note how the broad coalition is leading regions that are significantly behind schedule in the Pniec timetable”. In short, the left at local level is the main obstacle to the installation of renewables, particularly in Sardinia which – as they wrote in the appeal – has become “the driving force behind a veritable crusade against renewables and against the Meloni government, which, according to the regional government’s incredible stance, is guilty of proposing far too many of them”. For these environmental activists, the progressive Todde administration is actually worse than Meloni’s.

Given that, at the meeting with the M5S, the President of the Sardinia Region was present alongside Giuseppe Conte, the rigorous ‘independent’ scholars will surely have given her a good telling-off. Or, at the very least, they will have managed to secure a U-turn on the policy of a total ban on renewables. Not a chance. Everything is going splendidly: “Today, an important step forward has been taken, thanks in part to the data provided by President Todde herself, which has clarified certain critical issues that emerged in the debate over recent months,” reads the joint statement from the M5S and the scholar-activists. Suddenly, all “the differences and misunderstandings of recent months” have been overcome. The President of Sardinia, for example, stated that she had expressed a favourable opinion in the Council of Ministers on no fewer than three renewable energy projects. The scientist-activists refrained from pointing out, however, that there were 31 blocked projects (which have since risen to 32): they are not even satisfied with the glass being half full, but when dealing with politicians from the broad coalition, the glass is fine even if it is 90 per cent empty.

The figures, after all, do not lie. The Meloni government has installed the most renewable energy capacity, at a rate of around 7 GW per year in recent years – four times the 2019–2022 average (1.7 GW). According to Terna’s report, as of August, Italy as a whole is on track to meet the Pniec target: in fact, it is slightly ahead, with 666 MW more installed than the roadmap stipulates. However, this result is marred by the enormous delay in the regions governed by the centre-left, which, compared with the burden-sharing targets, are 1,358 MW short. Sardinia alone – the worst-performing region in Italy in absolute terms – has a shortfall of 649 MW. But for the ‘Group of 120’, when it comes to Todde, it is not the figures that count but, as an old advert used to say, a word is enough. Some commentators suggest that, as a guarantee of this pact, some of these ‘independent’ researchers may find a place on the upcoming electoral lists of the broad coalition. Wind turbines may not be installed in Sardinia, but a few environmentalists in Parliament might well be.