On June 5, 2020, the World Environment Day, Cittadinanzattiva reported during a webinar the results of its civic consultation on the perceptions and habits of citizens with concerns to the use of water resources and services.
"Citizens lack confidence in the quality of tap water (only 46.4% use it) because they do not trust controls on drinking water. 43.7% of Italians consume water in plastic bottles, with severe consequences on the pollution of the planet.
Universal access to drinking water and sanitation: the issue of guaranteeing everyone a quantity of water corresponding to the vital minimum (50 liters per day) has not yet been solved. According to citizens, such quantity can be guaranteed through a political price defined by the authorities (46.9%) or by charges through general taxation (32.9%).
Water rationing (13%) especially in the South.
Citizens' awareness of their own water consumption and consequently of their waste is very limited.”
With regards to climate change, the most perceived risks concern the possible increase of areas at risk of drought and desertification, the intensification of extreme meteorological phenomena (e.g. hurricanes and storms), rising sea levels and the consequent risk of floods.
Meanwhile, the issue of climate change is linked to a lesser extent to that of mass migration and the spread of new diseases. Nonetheless, the investigation was carried out in the period prior to COVID 19 and therefore current answers on this topic could differ.
Nonetheless, in the fight against pandemics and climate change we have a great ally: water, which is necessary to produce what we need. In conclusion, the President of CICMA (Comitato Italiano Contratto Mondiale sull'Acqua – Onlus) on behalf of the organizers said: “We are worried, the situation is delicate. The only possibilities to take care of water – as a main asset – in order to achieve environmental sustainability are the increase of knowledge and civic participation."
The initiative was part of the project “Le città e l’uso sostenibile dell’acqua e delle risorse naturali” ("Cities and the sustainable use of water and natural resources"), funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and coordinated by CEVI, whose objective is to promote a greater knowledge and awareness of citizens of the sustainability objectives of the UN Agenda 2030, starting with the rational use of water resources. It was promoted by Cittadinanzattiva, with the support of CEVI (Udine), Cafc Spa (Udine), CIPSI (Rome), CICMA (Milan), the Municipality of Milan, the Coordination of Local Bodies for Peace and Human Rights (Perugia), GMA ( Padua), MM Spa (Milan), PHP (Palermo), and the University of Udine (DPIA).
Furthermore, on occasion of the World Environment Day which was celebrated on that day, the video "Water and pandemics: what can we do?" can be found online.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysXTB4NExUI (IT language).
Read the Report (IT language) and download the presentation (IT language).
To read the article in Italian, click here.
