A major two-day conference opened here on Wednesday with the aim of mapping out strategies that will enable Italy to minimise the impact of climate change on its vulnerable territory.
Italy, which research shows is heating up faster than the rest of the planet, expects desertification and rising sea-levels to produce far-reaching effects on its economy and agriculture in the coming century.
The country urgently needs an "environmental security package," Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio said as he opened the conference at the headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
"The climate emergency is there for all to see. We can't just think about mitigation plans and reducing CO2 emissions. The climate is already changing so we must also think about how Italy can prepare itself to protect its seas, its coasts and its water resources. We need to start adapting".
The minister promised that the National Climate Conference, at which a host of international experts and political leaders will be offering their input, would produce the package of measures needed.
On Wednesday the conference was scheduled to examine the global scenario and the expected effects of climate change on water resources; agriculture; land and coastlines; and biodiversity and forests.
Thursday will be devoted 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".
Experts believe Italy and the rest of southern Europe are particularly vulnerable to the onset of climate change.
A recent United Nations report said average temperatures in Italy could increase by as much as five degrees Celsius by the end of the century. This would cause a 25-30 cm rise in sea levels, spelling disaster for many coastal cities, including Venice.
Another environmental study released earlier this year warned that 32% of Italian territory was under threat from desertification - especially in the south - because of climate change and the resulting drop in rainfall levels.
The effects of climate change are already apparent, many experts say. According to the Italian Meteorological Society, the first eight months of 2007 were the hottest in the country for 250 years.
In fact, the National Research Council believes the climate in Italy is heating up at a faster rate than the rest of the planet. Looking at the period between 1865 and 2003, it said temperatures in Italy rose by one degree centigrade per 100 years compared to an average of 0.74 degrees for the whole world.
One of the key sectors expected to suffer from climate change is agriculture. Based on current climatic trends, Italian farm produce such as tomatoes will have to be moved 100 kilometers more to the north for every degree increase in average temperatures.
This would mean that in the future Sicily will no longer be able to produce citrus fruits, while Lombardy would offer the best climate for olives and other typical Mediterranean products.
But other key sectors of the economy will suffer too. As the hotter climate makes many Italian resorts less appealing, tourism is likely to contract.
Research carried out the World Tourism Organisation calculates that by 2050 even a 1% decline in Europe's tourism industry will cost the continent 110 billion euros.
"We have to take mitigating action and we can't afford to wait. We have to act quickly," said the organisation, which will present its findings at the FAO on Wednesday during a discussion of ways to adapt the tourist industry.
