As scientific reports about the perils global warming has in store for Italy mount up, climate change is taking up more and more space on the nation's public agenda.
Italian politicians, entrepreneurs, farmers and the media have started to join environmentalists in focusing on the challenges the problem presents.
"A critical change is taking place in Italian environmental policy," said Green party Senator Loredana De Petris.
De Petris was speaking after the Senate passed four different motions Thursday demanding the government step up efforts to stop global warming.
The motions were proposed by parties on both the right and left side of Italy's political spectrum, which is significant because it suggests a new consensus is emerging about the need for action.
"This is an important signal and an excellent first step towards addressing climate change," said Roberto Della Seta of the Legambiente environmental association.
The centre-left government says it has made the issue one of its top priorities since coming to power last year.
Italy helped champion the ambitious proposals to fight climate change adopted by the European Union last week. These included setting the Union a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020.
Earlier this month, the government unveiled a new energy package aimed at getting the country to do its bit to stop temperatures rising.
A series of tax breaks will encourage individuals and companies to become more energy efficient, by offering greater deductions on installing solar panels and replacing old water heaters.
There will also be tax incentives for construction firms to build energy-efficient buildings and for companies to buy machinery that consumes less electricity.
The plan sets aside 1.5 billion euros a year for investments in renewable energy sources, including measures to increase Italy's production of solar power 100-fold over the next 10 years.
Italy has a difficult task ahead in the area of carbon dioxide emissions. It is the third biggest CO2 polluter among European Union countries, holding 11th place on the global list after Germany (6th) and the UK (9th).
Under the 1997 Kyoto accords on greenhouse gases, Italy is committed to cutting its 1990 level of emissions - 521 million tonnes - by 6.5% by 2012.
This means reducing its emissions to 480 million tonnes over the next five years.
A possible lead to follow would be that of the British government, which this week unveiled radical plans to set itself legally binding limits on pollution to bring CO2 emissions down by 60% by 2050.
Italian farmers' associations like Coldiretti, meanwhile, are among those most active in drawing attention to the problem of global warming.
Coldiretti says farmers need help to cope with the effects of climate change, such as diminishing water resources for irrigation, and to contribute to the solution.
It argues that Italian agriculture should be given much more support to help develop low-polluting biofuels, derived from crops like sunflowers.
Former environment minister Altero Matteoli, a senator with the right-wing National Alliance party, said Italian industry is waking up to the profit potential of developing green technologies too.
The motion his party presented to the Senate called for more government support for companies that invest in this area.
"It's a great opportunity to turn an enlightened vision of the environment into an opportunity for growth, via the exportation of Italian green technology," Matteoli said.
A recent survey showed that climate change is the Italian public's third greatest fear, behind terrorism and crime.
NEW UNITED NATIONS REPORT ON RISKS CAUSED BY CLIMATE CHANGE.
A new United Nations report claims that Italy and southern Europe face health risks and an increasing struggle to grow food because of climate change in the 21st century.
According to the study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), temperatures could rise by as much as five degrees Celsius in Europe by the end of the century, giving northern countries milder winters and making summers in the south increasingly hot and parched.
The report is due to be published in Brussels on April 6, but ANSA was able to view the draft document and learn its key conclusions.
The report predicts 30-40% less rain in the south by 2100, noting that this would have a serious impact on farming and also on tourism, because hotels and holiday villages would face water shortages. With rivers losing 80% of their water in the summer, hydro-electric power generation would also suffer, the IPCC said.
Meanwhile, the rising level of the sea due to melting glaciers and ice caps would mean many areas of the coastline would be eroded, producing more problems for tourist businesses.
Italy has just had one of its mildest winters on record and the country is bracing itself for a blazing summer.
Preparations are being made for a potential summer power crunch caused by high temperatures and a low level of water in rivers which run generators.
Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio is representing Italy Friday and Saturday at the meeting of G8 countries plus the five biggest emerging economies - China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa - on climate change and its impact on biodiversity.
Pecoraro Scanio said he will propose a sort of Kyoto protocol to defend "animal and plant species in danger of extinction" at the meeting in the German city of Potsdam.
