Drought emergency: interministerial meeting to be held at Palazzo Chigi on 1 March

The Government’s first interministerial meeting on the drought emergency, to be chaired by President of the Council of Ministers Giorgia Meloni, will be held at Palazzo Chigi on 1 March. The purpose of the meeting is to address what could prove to be an emergency situation, considering the low usage rate of the water resources that are effectively available and the need to reduce time frames for works to reduce water dispersion and to allow for basins to be cleaned.

The working group will examine initiatives in order to launch both a short-term action plan and a medium to long-term programme. The meeting will be attended by representatives from the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department for European Affairs, Southern Italy, Cohesion Policy and the NRRP and the Civil Protection Department.

The decision to hold the meeting was made by the Council of Ministers following the information provided by the Minister for Civil Protection, Nello Musumeci, and speeches by Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Minister for Relations with Parliament Luca Ciriani and Minister for European Affairs, Southern Italy, Cohesion Policy and the NRRP Raffaele Fitto.