The indicator describes the status of the 42 Contaminated Sites of National Interest (SIN), which together cover 148,594 hectares of land surface (0.49% of the Italian territory) and 77,136 hectares of marine areas. This issue affects all Italian regions, except Molise. As of 30 June 2024, for 65% of the total area of the 36 SINs under consideration, information is available on the progress of the procedures: characterization has been completed for 59% of the soils and 55% of the groundwater, while remediation/safety measures have been approved by ministerial decree for 13% of the soil area and 17% of the groundwater. Procedures have been completed for 17% of the soils and 6% of the groundwater. The information provided by the indicator outlines a representative picture of environmental conditions and societal responses in relation to regulatory and sustainability objectives.

In Italy, geothermal energy, renewable and sustainable, is concentrated in 10 concessions in Tuscany with 34 plants that, in 2023, produced 5,692 GWh, covering 31% of the regional demand and 70% of Tuscany's renewable energy sources.

The direct uses of geothermal heat (climate control, spa use, district heating) and geothermal heat pumps, about 20,000, are growing but still underutilized compared to Northern European countries. The environmental impact is limited and mitigated by abatement systems (AMIS) and reinjection of fluids. Italian resources, concentrated in the Tuscan-Lazio area, also show potential for recovery of strategic elements such as lithium, crucial for the energy transition.

The indicator quantifies fossil fuel mineral resource extraction activities (oil and gas) in Italy, providing data on site locations, production, reserves, and potential environmental impacts. As of 30 November 2024, there are 154 production concessions (55 offshore), 23 exploration permits (6 offshore), and 15 gas storage concessions, mostly concentrated in the Po Valley. Oil production, concentrated in Basilicata (91% of the national total), remains stable, while gas production is declining, with 3 billion Sm³ extracted in 2023. The suspension of exploration activities since 2019 and the introduction of the PiTESAI plan have reduced the number of concessions, thereby mitigating environmental impact. Italy's proven reserves amount to 41.8 billion Sm³ of gas (65.2% onshore) and 84.6 million tonnes of oil, mainly in Basilicata and Sicily.

The indicator represents the number of geosites, geological sites of such significance that they warrant conservation and protection, that have been identified, described, and inventoried in ISPRA’s Geosites database. As of September 30, 2024, approximately 2,030 geosites have been recorded.

The indicator provides information on sites subject to regional remediation procedures, based on data extracted from regional registries and databases. In 2023, 38,556 sites were registered, of which 22,191 have completed the remediation process.

For 62% of the sites, at least one surface area value (administrative or technical) is available. The sites for which the administrative area is known number 21,711, equal to 56% of the procedures. Among the ongoing procedures, 59% of the sites are in the notification phase, 21% are developing or have developed the conceptual model, while 20% have approved interventions.

For 97% of the sites with ongoing remediation procedures, the contamination status is known: 6,400 are potentially contaminated, 3,974 are contaminated, and 5,502 are awaiting analytical assessments. Among the concluded procedures, in only 30% of cases was an intervention necessary, while in the remaining 70% the procedure concluded without any intervention.

Legislative Decree D.Lgs. 42/2004 (Codice Urbani) is the primary legal reference for the protection, conservation, and enhancement of cultural heritage (cultural assets and landscape). Protected areas, considered as a whole—those identified under Article 142 and Article 136—had a percentage of soil consumption in 2023 lower than the national average (5.43%), with an increase of just under 1,400 hectares in the last year. Campania is the region with the highest percentage of land consumed in protected areas (11%) and the largest increase, both in absolute terms (+135 hectares) and in the density of changes (3.53 m²/ha).

This indicator quantifies soil consumption within specific distances from the coastline and tracks its temporal evolution. Nearly a quarter of the land within 300 meters of the coast has been urbanized, while 19% of the area between 300 and 1,000 meters and 8.7% of the area between 1 and 10 km have been affected. In comparison, only 6.5% of the rest of the territory has undergone soil consumption.

The Geological Mapping Project of Italy at a scale of 1:50,000 (CARG Project) aims to achieve complete coverage of the Italian territory through the creation of 636 sheets that make up the Geological Map of Italy at a scale of 1:50,000. As of now, the geological sheets currently in progress and those already completed cover approximately 62% of the national territory.

The indicator considers extraction sites for first-category minerals, as classified by current regulations, excluding fluid energy sources and mineral and/or thermal water springs, present in the national territory from 1870 to the present. It serves a dual purpose: identifying potential mineral deposits still exploitable with sustainable techniques and locating potential sources of pollution associated with past extraction methods.

Of the 3,016 sites that have been operational in the past 150 years, only 94 currently hold valid concessions, and 76 sites were active in 2020. 562 abandoned or decommissioned mining sites present a medium to high ecological and health risk. Several museum sites have been integrated into the National Network of Mining Museums and Parks (REMI), coordinated by ISPRA.

The indicator describes land use (agricultural, urban, industrial or commercial, infrastructure, recreational, natural and semi-natural, water bodies, etc.), reporting the territorial surfaces associated with different classes according to the CORINE Land Cover classification system. Between 2012 and 2018, there was a continued general increase in artificial urban areas, primarily at the expense of agricultural land. In Italy, as in the rest of Europe, cultivated areas show a contraction, linked not only to urbanization processes but also to agricultural land abandonment.

Soil degradation refers to the reduction in the biological productivity of soil resources. This process is often intrinsically linked to biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change. Assessing soil degradation requires considering multiple interdependent factors, each contributing differently to the phenomenon.

In recent years, Italy has participated in the pilot project on Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), promoted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and in the LDN Target Setting Programme, which supports countries in identifying voluntary LDN targets and defining associated measures to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15.3. This goal is monitored through the "Proportion of degraded land over total land area" (SDG Indicator 15.3.1).

For the assessment of this indicator in Italy, three sub-indicators proposed by UNCCD under the LDN framework have been adopted:

1. Land cover change
2. Soil productivity index
3. Soil organic carbon content

Additionally, further indices and parameters relevant to the Italian context and available at the national level have been considered. The results show that in 2019, the proportion of degraded land in Italy, excluding water bodies, was 17.4%, according to the UNCCD methodology. Furthermore, nearly 56,000 km² (approximately 18.5% of the national territory) experienced increased degradation between 2006 and 2019.

The sequestration and storage of carbon constitute a regulatory service provided by various terrestrial and marine ecosystems due to their ability to capture greenhouse gases. This capacity varies in magnitude depending on the natural state of the ecosystem considered. This service contributes to global climate regulation and plays a crucial role in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Among all terrestrial ecosystems, natural and semi-natural forests have the highest carbon sequestration potential. In the soil pool, in particular, organic carbon accounts for approximately 60% of the organic matter present and performs an essential positive function on many soil properties. Based on the mapping carried out within the GSP (Global Soil Partnership - GSOC map) for the soil reservoir, data from the National Inventory of Forests and Carbon Reservoirs (INFC), and information on land cover and soil consumption from ISPRA cartography, this indicator provides an estimate of the quantities of Soil Organic Carbon contained in the four pools of Italian soils and the variation determined by soil consumption during the periods 2012-2020 and 2012-2021. The estimated stock for 2012 was over 2.6 billion tons, a value that by 2021 had been reduced by over 3.2 million tons, with a continuous decline and an increasing annual loss rate in eight out of twenty regions.