The Italian capital this week will host a two-day national conference on climate change with a series of addresses, workshops and roundtable discussions.
The National Climate Conference will be held at the headquarters here of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
It has been organized by the Environment Protection Agency (APAT) with the support of the Environment Ministry.
The conference opens on Wednesday morning with a general review of the situation at home and abroad while in the afternoon a series of meetings will be held focusing on specific topics.
These will include: water resources; agriculture; land and coastlines; and biodiversity and forests.
There will also be two parallel workshops, one on the environment and health and the other on the sea and marine resources.
Thursday will be dedicated to defining priorities for research and prevention programs aimed at minimising the effects of climate change.
Experts explained that these will be long-term programs based on a "strategy of adaptation".
There will also be a roundtable discussion with the participation of a number of ministers, including Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio (environment), Tomasso Padoa-Scioppa (economy) Paolo De Castro (agriculture), Pierluigi Bersani (industry) and Fabio Mussi (research).
Also taking part will be representatives from the private sector and union movement.
Thursday afternoon will focus on common strategies on a European and international level. These discussions will include the participation of FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, UN Environment Program director Achim Steiner, UN Development Program chief Kevin Watkins and Italian Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia.
The climate conference will wind up with concluding addresses by Pecoraro Scanio and Italian Premier Romano Prodi.
