APA-Remini (Italy) Attracting a record number of participants the 26th edition of the Ecomondo series of events around trade exhibitions got underway in the Italian resort of Remini on Wednesday.
It follows eight months after the spin-off show for renewable energy, was held in March this year.
The event will highlight the ecological transition with the participation of over 1,500 brands (+10% compared to 2022), occupying all 150,000 square metres of the exhibition centre.
During four days of the exhibition, Ecomondo is expecting over 30 delegations with some 280
delegates from North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Europe and Eastern Europe.
230 national and international events will take place over the four days of the show, 75 of which with a scientific, economic, technical and scenario focus with the cooperation of the event’s main institutional and technical partners.
Events at Rimini Expo Centre wraps up on Friday 10th November.
Tuesday’s opening ceremony was graced by Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Italy’s Environment and Energy Security minister, Stefano Bonaccini, head of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Anna Montini, Rimini Councillor for Ecological Transition, and Maurizio Renzo Ermeti, head of the Italian Exhibition Group, the organisers of the event.
Maurizio Renzo Ermeti recounted the history of Ecomondo which began ”with the
double intuition of two exceptional people: Edo Ronchi, who, as Minister of the Environment in 1997,
presented the decree that bears his name and changed the paradigm with which the waste issue had
always been approached in Italy. And Lorenzo Cagnoni, our late president, who, in the same year,
inaugurated the “Ricicla” trade show, today’s Ecomondo”.
In Cagnoni’s memory, IEG established an award for companies with the highest rate of innovation at the show called the “Lorenzo Cagnoni” Award for Green Innovators”.
According to Anna Montini, the Rimini Councillor for Ecological Transition, Ecomondo not only welcomes established companies, but also start-ups, which embody a model of innovation that is essential for progress.
”This year, the event is further enriched with an area linked to the Blue Economy, a particularly
strategic sector for Rimini. A candidate to become Capital of Culture for 2026, our city stands out for its
investments in urban regeneration, sewage system renewal, and the qualification of the coastal profile
along the seafront. All transformations inspired by the environmental themes and culture that Ecomondo radiates in the area”.
Stefano Bonaccini who heads the Emilia-Romagna Region said the area has exceeded
73 percent separate waste collection, but enjoined stakeholders to invest more against land consumption.
He said his administration has been working closely with Minister Pichetto Fratin culminating in the appointment of a commissioner for the construction of a regasification plant with guarantees that it will be ready within two years.
”This is the transition, the future is renewable energy: that is why the largest wind farm in Italy will be built in Ravenna” he added.
Minister Fratin warned that climate change is a big challenge that his country faces but there is a drive to cut emissions by 55% within 2030. He described this as an arduous task given what is happening globally, but warned that this crusade must be undertaken for the new generations.
He added: ”These are goals that we must achieve through a new model of consumption and production, which involves many sectors and which sees the government and the production sectors committed to finding an equilibrium between the cost-effectiveness of the intervention and a balance with society. Our challenge is decarbonisation. Starting from the automotive sector, on which we must work to achieve emission neutrality, and going on to construction, on which we must intervene with tax concessions and credits, but also with a national strategy for more efficient buildings, and then the third field, which is modern agriculture. A further challenge is plastics, in which Emilia-Romagna is at the fore. Italy leads Europe in recycling and has demonstrated its ability to turn waste into a new raw material. The challenge of the future will be to recover critical minerals from waste. One example above all: 70% of Italian steel is produced from scrap. That is why this exhibition is important for accompanying the transition through the transformation that can be achieved with technology”.
Meanwhile the 13th edition of the States General of the Green Economy, organised by the National Council for the Green Economy, comprising 68 business organisations, in cooperation with the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security and the Sustainable Development Foundation, is also underway.
The States General of the Green Economy consists of plenary sessions in the morning and five thematic indepth sessions. In the opening plenary session, the 2023 Report on the state of the green economy in Italy was presented, which investigates the relationship between the costs and economic benefits of the
ecological transition and updates the performance of strategic green issues.
Thursday’s international session will be on the theme of “Challenges for companies and governments in a changing climate.”
PR/as/APA