The indicator is the result of the regional recognition of the state of planning relative to the coastal strip. 11 coastal regions out of 15 have regional planning tools extended to the management and protection of the coastal territory and some are preparing a second regional plan, distinguishing with greater clarity that intended for the protection and protection of the coasts from that oriented to the development and coordination of socio-economic activities.

The analysis of the indicator shows in recent years an overall acceleration of the planning processes and, although not measurable by the indicator, numerous initiatives to update and refine the tools already adopted. The reason for this increased activity is believed to be partly linked to the growing sensitivity to the erosion problem, and partly to depend on the introduction into the basin planning of the Flood Risk Management Plan, which requires the assessment of danger and risk for coastal flooding.

The Water Framework Directive, 2000/60/EC (WFD) requires the review and update of River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) within 15 years of the directive’s entry into force and subsequently every six years (Article 13). Accordingly, to develop the planning cycle for the 2015-2021 period, the review and update of the first RBMPs adopted in 2010, began in 2012. This process was completed with the approval of the plans between March and June 2016. Subsequently, the second update of the RBMPs began, as required by Article 117, paragraph 2bis of Legislative Decree 152/2006. This update was finalized in December 2021 with the adoption of the RBMPs (for all river basin districts) by the Permanent Institutional Conference.

The Water Protection Plans (WPPs) are the plans through which regions, based on the objectives set at the river basin district level by the RBMPs, define the measures to ensure the achievement or maintenance of water bodies' quality objectives and the necessary actions for their qualitative and quantitative protection at the regional level.

To date, three Regions and the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano have an updated WPP based on the 2021 RBMPs. Another seven regions have a WPP adopted or approved after the publication of the 2015 RBMPs. The remaining nine Regions have a WPP predating the 2015 RBMPs.

In 2024, none of the regions with a WPP approved or updated before the 2021 RBMP has aligned their WPP with the latest management cycle of the RBMP and its related updates.

The Municipal Noise Mitigation Plan is legally established as a fundamental tool for managing and resolving noise pollution issues within a territory. This plan follows the primary municipal requirement: the Noise Zoning Plan. The Noise Mitigation Plan must be coordinated with all other urban planning tools and must incorporate the content of noise containment and reduction plans for transport infrastructure. As of 2023, this planning instrument remains scarcely implemented at the national level: only 66 out of 5,097 municipalities with an approved Noise Zoning Plan have also adopted a Noise Mitigation Plan, maintaining a percentage slightly above 1% over the years.

The management of noise pollution generated by airport infrastructures is carried out through the implementation of obligations set by current regulations. These include the approval of the acoustic characterization of the airport surroundings, a key territorial planning measure that regulates land use compatible with noise levels produced by the airport. Additionally, noise mitigation procedures are applied to minimize aircraft noise impact, along with the implementation and management of an airport noise monitoring system. To date, these obligations remain unfulfilled in many airports across the country. As of 2024, the acoustic characterization of the airport surroundings has been approved in 24 out of 42 airports handling national and international air traffic, 39 of which have been identified by ENAC as "airports of national interest", , marking a fundamental and priority step in the management of airport noise pollution.

The Noise Zoning Plan is the primary municipal planning tool for managing noise pollution. This plan involves dividing the municipal territory into acoustically homogeneous areas, each assigned specific noise limits. Its goal is to provide an essential tool for urban development planning and territorial protection from noise pollution.

As of 2023, the Noise Zoning Plan has been approved in 64% of municipalities nationwide. However, significant regional disparities persist in the application of this planning instrument.

The monitoring of hydrogeological risk mitigation projects funded from 1999 to December 31, 2023, by various administrations across the national territory is carried out by ISPRA through the ReNDiS platform (the Italian Repository of Hydogeological Mitigation measures). A total of 25,539 projects are recorded in ReNDiS, with a total funding amount of €19,207 million. Of these, the projects under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) account for just over 26% (6,750) of the total, corresponding to approximately 41% (€7,819 million) of the total resources allocated by the other public funding administrations listed in ReNDiS. These include the Ministry of the Interior, the Civil Protection Department, the Casa Italia Department of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests (MASAF) and the Calabria Region.

Specifically, projects under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior, the Civil Protection Department, the Casa Italia Department, MASAF and the Calabria Region represent over 73.5% (18,789) of the total number of projects, with funding exceeding 59% (€19,207 million).

Regarding the implementation status of all funded projects, 8,813 (approximately 34%) have been completed, 12% (2,951 projects) are under execution, 19% (4,836 projects) are in the design phase, while nearly 34% (8,703 projects) have yet to be started or have no reported data. The indicator also provides data on the regional distribution of projects and their classification based on the type of hydrogeological failure. Additionally, it presents data on funding requests submitted by Regions/Autonomous Provinces to MASE and the Casa Italia Department for the implementation of new hydrogeological risk mitigation projects, totaling 1,542 requests for a total project funding amount of approximately €4,440 million.

The indicator provides an overview of current regional planning activities relating to seven types of plans and the status of the associated Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) processes.
As of 31 December 2023, 129 plans out of 147 planned have been completed, achieving 88% coverage. In the same period, the total number of complete and in-force plans with SEA amounts to 103, representing 70% of all planned complete plans (147) and 80% of currently completed ones (129).

The indicator is based on information related to air quality plans which, according to Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010), must be adopted in case of exceedances of the limits set for major air pollutants.

At the national level, information on air quality plans, communicated by the regions and autonomous provinces in the format required by Decision 2011/850/EU, is collected and stored by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, and subsequently transmitted to the European Commission (EC) "within two years of the end of the year in which the first exceedance was observed" (Directive 2008/50/EC, Article 23).

This information does not need to be transmitted annually, but only when new elements are to be reported. Therefore, both the information submitted in 2023 by three regions and the data submitted in previous years by 14 regions and the autonomous provinces of Bolzano and Trento—who did not need to make a new submission—are analyzed.

The analysis shows that the measures reported in 2023 (adopted following exceedances recorded in 2021) and those previously submitted and still in force total 517, of which 50% fall within the Road Transport sector and 17% within the Residential and Commercial sector.

In 2021, the fifth edition of the Catalogue of Environmentally Relevant Subsidies identified a total of 168 measures, resulting in €22.4 billion in environmentally harmful subsidies and €18.6 billion in environmentally beneficial subsidies (an increase of +16.3% and a decrease of -1.7%, respectively, compared to the previous year). Subsidies totaling €11.5 billion are classified as of uncertain attribution (down by -15.8% from 2020). Among the environmentally harmful subsidies, those related to fossil fuels amounted to €14.5 billion in 2021 (Figure 1 and Table 1).

The indicator, referring to the 25 National Parks established as of 08/31/2023, represents the implementation status of Park Plans under Article 12 of Law 394/1991 within the complex process of drafting - adoption - approval by the competent authorities. Compared to 2020, the number of active plans has increased by one unit (Pollino National Park), reaching a total of 12. However, a general delay persists, particularly regarding plans pending approval. Considering the legal timeframe for the entry into force of a Park Plan, all National Parks (NPs) should have had an active plan by now. Instead, an average delay of 21 years in the approval process has been recorded.

In water resource management, the Area Plans (PdA) serve as a tool to plan and program activities for the Integrated Water System (SII). This system encompasses public services such as water abstraction, conveyance, and distribution for civil uses, as well as sewage and wastewater treatment. The indicator provides a national overview of the Area Plans currently in force within the Optimal Territorial Areas (ATO) into which the territory is divided, in accordance with current legislation.

At present, the national territory is divided into 62 ATOs, demarcated by the regions based on rules contained in the Environmental Code (Legislative Decree No. 152 of April 3, 2006, Part III). This legislation does not set minimum dimensional limits for the ATOs but outlines criteria for their delimitation, which refer to:

• (i) Basin unit and location of resources, and constraints for the destination of these resources for the affected urban centers.
• (ii) Management unity (i.e., provision of all components of the integrated water service across the entire ATO by a single management entity).
• (iii) Adequate management size (defined based on physical, demographic, and technical parameters).

This indicator focuses on the evolution of seismic classification and seismic regulations in Italy, with particular reference to seismic microzonation (MS). Regarding seismic classification, although it has not been the regulatory reference for seismic design since 2006—where reference is now made directly to the Technical Standards for Construction (Ministerial Decree of January 17, 2018)—it continues to serve as a reference for technical and administrative controls. The latest update provided by the Civil Protection Department, as of April 2021, classifies the territory into four main classes and sixteen subclasses, based on proposals from each region for its municipalities.

Regarding regulations governing seismic microzonation studies, the Civil Protection Department, in collaboration with the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, defined general guidelines and criteria in 2008. In subsequent years, some regions issued specific technical regulations adapting the general guidelines to their territories based on their particular vulnerabilities, concerning seismic amplification issues and, in some cases, surface fault rupture hazards. The seismic sequence that affected Central Italy starting on August 24, 2016, spurred the implementation of Level III seismic microzonation studies in all 140 affected municipalities. These studies were validated by a working group established by the Special Commissioner for Reconstruction in Central Italy. Various in-depth studies on active and capable faults within the Level III microzonation framework are ongoing and are expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Plans are the primary tools available to regional authorities to address the impacts of climate change and implement actions aimed at reducing territorial vulnerabilities. In Italy, the number of adopted regional strategies and plans remains very limited. Despite the absence of a binding regulatory framework and a national programmatic reference context, there are ongoing initiatives, projects, and climate vulnerability studies that are expected to lead toward the formal adoption of first Adaptation Strategies and subsequently Climate Change Adaptation Plans. The challenge posed by climate change urgently requires the definition and implementation of concrete actions to enhance territorial resilience.