Goal 13: Climate action

The indicator represents the time series of national greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2023, broken down by sector of origin. Data analysis shows that in 2023 there was a significant reduction in emissions compared to 1990 (-26.4%), explained by the economic recession, which curbed consumption in recent years, but also by a greater use of renewable energy sources. This resulted in a reduction in CO₂ emissions from the energy sector (-26.9% compared to 1990).

In 2023, Italy experienced one of the hottest years in the last 150 years, second only to 2022. The average and maximum temperatures reached new records with October recording temperatures more than 3°C higher than the 1991-2021 average, marking the highest value since 1961. During the summer, intense heatwaves affected the country, with record temperatures of 48.2°C recorded on July 24 in Jerzu and Lotzorai in Sardinia, and 41.2°C in Rome in early August. Drought continued to be a significant problem, with Northern and Central Italy experiencing severe drought conditions in the first four months of the year, which later eased. However, in the last three months of the year, Sicily and parts of Ionian Calabria suffered from extreme drought with a significant precipitation deficit.
Extreme weather events affected several regions, causing severe damage. In May, Emilia-Romagna was devastated by two exceptional rainfall events, leading to flooding, landslides, and 17 fatalities. On November 2, heavy thunderstorms in Tuscany caused flooding and 8 deaths, with exceptional rainfall recorded in the provinces of Pisa, Livorno, Pistoia, and Prato.
In summary, 2023 was characterized by record temperatures, persistent drought, and extreme weather events that had a significant impact on various italian regions.

The indicator provides information about the major landslide events caused fatalities, injuries, evacuations, damage to buildings, cultural heritage, and primary linear communication infrastructure or service networks in the national territory in the past year. The major landslide events occurred in 2023 were 192, with 11 deaths, 24 injuries, and damage mainly to the road network and buildings.

The indicator provides information about the landslide number and distribution in Italy. The recorded landslides exceed 635,000 (reference period 1116-2024) and affect an area of 25,004 km², accounting for 8.3% of the national territory.

The indicator is defined by the number of volcanic eruptions that have had significant effects in terms of interference with human activities over the course of the year. Regarding the reference year (2023), there was continuous eruptive activity from Etna and Strombolian activity with occasional intensity peaks at Stromboli.

The indicator describes the trend of mean temperature in Italy.
The increase in mean temperature recorded in Italy over the last thirty years has often exceeded the global average over land. In 2024, the mean temperature anomaly in Italy, relative to the 1991–2020 climatological baseline, was +1.33 °C—higher than the global land surface anomaly of +1.03 °C. In Italy, 2023 ranked as the warmest year in the entire annual time series starting from 1961. Since 2000, temperature anomalies relative to the 1991–2020 baseline have consistently been positive, except for four years (2004, 2005, 2010, and 2013).

The indicator analyzes the distribution of large and small dams in relation to the seismic classification of the national territory (Map of seismic zones OPCM March 20, 2003, n. 3274 and subsequent integrations), the Landslide Index of the IFFI Project (Italian Landslide Inventory), and the distribution of landslide-prone areas. For the year 2024, the indicator shows that the water surface of artificial and heavily modified natural lakes (the water perimeter for large and small dams) in areas with a null Landslide Index (IF) constitutes 71.6%, while only 1.8% falls in areas with a higher IF (IF>30). In terms of seismic activity, 7.4% of large dams and 2.2% of small dams are are located in the most dangerous area (seismic zone 1), while 20.6% and 11.9%, respectively, are in the least dangerous area (seismic zone 4). Due to incomplete data on the distribution of small reservoirs at the national level, the result is considered partial.

The indicator provides an estimate of the population exposed to landslide risk (personal damage risk: deaths, missing, injuries, and evacuations) on a national, regional, provincial, and municipal basis. In Italy, the population at landslide risk residing in areas with high and very high landslide hazard (P3+P4) amounts to 1,303,666 inhabitants, equal to 2.2% of the total population.

This indicator provides an overview of the population residing in flood-prone areas (population exposed to flood risk) at the national, regional, provincial, and municipal levels. In Italy, the population residing in areas with high hazard/probability is 4.1% of the total national population (2,431,847 people); those exposed to medium hazard/probability are 11.5% (6,818,375 people), while the population in areas with low hazard/probability is 20.6% (12,257,427 people).