Dispatch from Italy | October '26
*** Our weekly Dispatches provide an overview of the most relevant recent and upcoming developments for the shift to climate neutrality in selected European countries, from policy and diplomacy to society and industry. For a bird's-eye view of the country's climate-friendly transition, read the respective 'Guide to'. ***
Stories to watch in the weeks ahead
- Oil relief for the government – In an effort that started to resemble a Sisyphean task, the government went down many avenues to lower fuel prices, and to soften the blow on motorists. It repeated suspensions of fuel taxes that had cost 2.1 billion euros without producing any meaningful results. Then it said that the owners of 14 million non-luxury vehicles will be exempt from paying the annual car ownership tax next year. Meloni then urged fuel distributors to halt the price rise. State-controlled oil and gas company Eni was the first to cap prices, followed by other big players like IP (controlled by Azerbaijan’s state oil company Socar) and Q8 (Kuwait Petroleum), providing some temporary relief to the government.
But the situation remains tense: taxi drivers and truck companies are threatening strikes, while inflation climbed to a three-year-high. Prices rose 4.2 percent versus a year ago, driven by a 22.3 percent increase in energy costs, leading economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti to call the energy shock “our number one problem.” The Italian government joined Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany and Poland in asking the European Union for a regulatory framework that would allow countries to tax energy companies’ windfall profits. The EU replied that this decision rests with individual member states, and the debate remains unresolved in Italy. The opposition said it would support this measure, as does Lega, one of the parties in government. Meloni, however, prefers negotiation, and the price cap is one of the outcomes of that approach. - Renewables are still at a standstill – For years, the Meloni government and Italy’s main business association, Confindustria, have been largely aligned on energy policy. In recent weeks, however, tensions have grown. Confindustria is calling for a renewables commissioner to speed up permitting, and insiders suggest Roberto Cingolani, the former minister for ecological transition under Mario Draghi, could be the right person for the job. In the first half of 2026, renewable capacity increased by just 3.4 GW. Italy has now reached 86.9 GW, still far short of its 2030 target of 131 GW, which would require additions of more than 10 GW a year.
The latest from Italy – last month in recap
- A long and winding road to the nuclear option – The return to nuclear power after almost four decades could become this government’s most significant energy legacy. But the path from making nuclear a viable option to turning it into a reality remains long. Parliament passed a law setting out the framework and allowing technologies including small modular reactors (SMR), advanced modular reactors and, eventually, nuclear fusion. Environment and energy security minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin promised that the implementing decrees will be issued by the end of the year, which will be crucial in clarifying the details. He also said that commercial nuclear power generation using SMRs could begin between 2033 and 2034. Italian SMR startup Newcleo listed on the US stock exchange Nasdaq, raising 247 million dollars. The company wants to use the funds for developing SMR prototypes, and bringing a non-nuclear demonstrator into operation in Italy.
- Back to domestic oil and gas? – Italy is set to increase domestic oil and gas production. Current gas output covers only a small share of national consumption, at around 3–4 billion cubic metres a year compared with total demand of 60–75 billion cubic metres. Total gas reserves in the Adriatic Sea and the Strait of Sicily are estimated at around 70 billion cubic metres. Italy also produces roughly 100,000 barrels of oil per day, not even ten percent of its consumption of around 1.2 million barrels. The new law adopted in the energy relief packages does not set specific production targets or deadlines, but provides for the appointment of commissioners tasked with helping regional authorities cut approval times and speed up the issuing of permits and concessions for hydrocarbon research, exploration and extraction in Italy.
- Energy communities’ disappointment – Renewable energy communities have been up in arms in recent weeks. These projects, led by citizens, associations and small municipalities to produce, consume and share electricity through the grid, are funded through the EU’s NextGenerationEU programme. However, the number of active communities remains small, and most are limited in scale – while grid connection requests exceed existing communities three to five times. Community representatives mostly blame bureaucracy as the main bottleneck. Giovanni Montagnani, president of the Vergante Rinnovabile energy community, estimated that reaching 5 GW of renewable capacity from energy communities - the government’s target - would require the submission of 12 million individual data points.
Ferdinando's picks – Top reads and events
- Radical proposals – Will Italy ever be ready for proposals aimed at truly transforming society and the economy? On 31 October in Rome, a network of civil society organisations - including several climate movements, as well as ActionAid and Oxfam — will challenge opposition parties with three politically radical proposals for the 2027 election. The details have not yet been unveiled, but one of the proposals will focus on climate and energy. Representatives of the main opposition parties are expected to attend the event.
- Local climate denial in school becomes a national story – A case of climate denial has turned into a national story in the space of just a few weeks. A textbook used at a secondary school in Belluno, in the Veneto region, includes a passage claiming that global warming is not caused by human activities including CO2 emissions. The project was funded with public money originally earmarked for recovery efforts after Storm Vaia, a 2018 storm that devasted forests across the Dolomites - in other words, after a climate-related disaster. Following protests by students and scientists, public funding for the project was withdrawn.
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