Copyright

Giovanni Barbieri; Floriana Cerniglia; Andrea Pronti

Published On

2025-12-08

Page Range

pp. 59–76

Language

  • English

Print Length

18 pages

4. Energy Transition and Public Investment in Italy

Chapter of: More with More: Investing in the Energy Transition: 2025 European Public Investment Outlook(pp. 59–76)
Italy is aligned with the EU’s 2030 climate goals, aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55% compared to 1990 levels. Although emissions dropped from 9 to 6 tons per capita by 2023, progress remains too slow to meet the target. Still, renewables alone are not enough to fully decarbonize the energy sector. Most solar systems are small-scale and concentrated in the North, leaving the sunnier South underused. The updated 2024 National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) sets a 43.7% economy-wide emission cut by 2030. Meeting this goal requires faster deployment of renewables, energy efficiency, and electrification. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) allocates €69 billion to green investments until mid-2026. Despite this, a €175 billion investment gap remains between 2024 and 2030. Achieving climate goals demands considerable amounts of yearly investment. Public intervention will soon decline, making private sector engagement essential. Italy’s green transition might necessarily hinge on stronger policies and a joint public-private effort.

Contributors

Giovanni Barbieri

(author)
Research Fellow at CRANEC at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0221-8057

Giovanni Barbieri is a Research Fellow at CRANEC at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. He holds a PhD in Institutions and Policies (2017, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan). He was previously Adjunct Professor of History of International and Commercial Institutions at the University of Palermo (DEMS) and Visiting Scholar at Scuola Normale’s “Istituto Ciampi” in Florence (2022). His main expertise are International Relations Theory and International Political Economy (IPE).

Floriana Cerniglia

(author)
Full Professor of Economics at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9972-716X

Floriana Cerniglia is a Full Professor of Economics at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Milan) and Director of CRANEC (Centro di ricerche in analisi economica e sviluppo economico internazionale). She is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Economia Politica (Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics). She received her PhD from the University of Warwick (UK) and her research interests are in public economics and in macroeconomic policies. She has published in leading international journals and she has coordinated and participated in a number of peer-reviewed research projects.

Andrea Pronti

(author)
Assistant Professor of Economics at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8781-3714

Andrea Pronti is Assistant Professor of Economics at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Milan), Department of International Economics, Institutions and Development and is a member of the interuniversity research centre SEEDS. He holds a PhD in Economics and Management of Innovation and Sustainability from the Universities of Ferrara and Parma. His research focuses on Environmental Economics, with particular attention to the economic impacts of climate change, eco-innovation, natural resource management, and green transitions. He teaches environmental and development economics at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. He has published in peer-reviewed international journals and has participated in several European research projects in collaboration with the European Commission and the European Environment Agency.