Analysis
Meloni is failing the environment, WWF report finds
It almost seems as if the governing majority has “scores to settle” against environmental protection, forgetting that the latter is based on long-standing warnings from the scientific community.
It’s hard to imagine a different outcome for the current Italian government, but the assessment emerging from WWF Italy’s analysis of the environmental policies of the Meloni government and its parliamentary majority is decidedly negative.
Three years after the administration took office, the environmental NGO has published its “report card” grading performance across ten subjects: agriculture, protected natural areas, biodiversity, hunting and anti-poaching efforts, climate, circular economy, energy, land management, the sea, and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Only two subjects got a passing grade (circular economy and protected areas, the latter with reservations), while all others were rated poor or failing (the report can be found on wwf.it)
On the eve of the 2022 elections, in its report Elezioni politiche 2022: il tempo delle scelte sostenibili (“2022 Political Elections: Time for Sustainable Choices), WWF called the 2022-2027 legislative term an “essential time” for achieving the 2030 targets for combating climate change and biodiversity loss. Action was needed in the next five years through laws, plans and programs, with the understanding that pursuing a “slower ecological transition” would mean failing to meet the goals laid out according to the scientific evidence.
Three years later, it is clear that this time has been squandered. Not only has the hoped-for acceleration failed to materialize, but in some areas, particularly biodiversity protection, the Meloni government has actually taken steps backward.
Compounded by an international situation worsened by Trump's election, it almost seems as if the governing majority has “scores to settle” against environmental protection, forgetting that the latter is based on long-standing warnings from the scientific community. Over the past three years, pressure on natural systems has increased, driven by political choices made without assessing their environmental effects, or even outright denying them. A 20th-century concept of development is being reasserted through senseless denialism. Powerful economic interests increasingly influence politics and public discourse. Not only have efforts to increase environmental protection stalled, but problems once considered solved have resurfaced.
Even positive processes, like the development of renewable energy, are slowing. The political desire to delay the science-based timeline for the energy transition is hindering the move away from fossil fuels. Unbelievably, nuclear energy is being touted as a plausible solution, despite having been rejected by Italians in two referendums and requiring extremely long timelines and prohibitive costs. Unsurprisingly, WWF rates the government's climate actions as poor and its energy policies as insufficient.
Biodiversity protection and the approach to hunting and poaching also receive failing grades. Since taking office, the government has adopted a clear and damaging approach: deregulating hunting, an activity that already creates serious problems for the environment, public safety and legality. The proposed reform of the hunting law currently before the Senate represents the culmination of this vision: a text drafted without consulting scientific or environmental groups, which aims to dismantle the framework law on wildlife protection by increasing the number of huntable species, expanding hunting territories and extending hunting seasons.
On protected areas, the verdict is less harsh, earning a “sufficient (with reservations)” rating only thanks to a government-convened summit that at least revived discussion. Otherwise, no progress has been made: the recognition of new protected areas is bogged down due to bureaucracy and local opposition, while existing parks and reserves are increasingly treated as political spoils. The government receives its only other passing grade for the circular economy, largely due to Italy's traditionally strong performance in waste recycling and circular material, among the top countries in Europe.
The government's actions on agriculture, however, are deemed insufficient. The executive and parliament have supported laws favoring intensive agriculture and demagogic measures like the ban on plant-based meat. They have hindered organic farming, opened the door to GMOs, and opposed the sector’s ecological transition. The same assessment applies to land management: soil consumption continues unabated and there are still serious delays in addressing hydrogeological instability and environmental remediation. This is compounded by the relaunch of infrastructure projects with serious environmental impact, chief among them the Messina Strait Bridge, which divert resources and exacerbate habitat fragmentation without any real assessment of their effects.
Finally, the verdict on marine policies and the NRRP implementation is also poor, with both areas suffering from delays and a lack of vision. At the EU level, Italy has consistently taken anti-environmental stances, voting to reduce wolf protection, obstructing the Nature Restoration Law, rejecting regulations on pesticide abuse and calling for the non-application of the deforestation regulation.
At the same time, little has been done to resolve conflicts with Brussels: as of June 2025, Italy faced 64 infringement proceedings, with the number of environment-related cases increasing and already constituting the largest category (23 proceedings).
The Meloni government still has two years left to set improvement targets and commit to achieving them. While the executive is taking uncertain steps or even going backward, emergencies like soil consumption, pollution, the destruction of the natural world and the climate crisis advance relentlessly.
Dante Caserta is Head of Legal and Institutional Affairs at WWF Italy.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/ambiente-maglietta-nera-al-governo on 2025-10-23