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ClientEarth Communications

1st December 2024

Wildlife & habitats
Climate
Defending habitats
Protecting species
Europe
Italy

We’ve won in court against the Italian government over a gas project in Italy

The project would have pumped out hundreds of thousands of barrels of gas from the seabed each day – and put dolphins and turtles in grave danger. 

We won against the Italian government in court, meaning that a huge gas project off Italy’s treasured Po Delta, that would threaten its native species including bottlenose dolphins and loggerhead turtles, has been cancelled. 

We took this case alongside Legambiente, LIPU-Birdlife Italy, WWF Italy and Greenpeace Italy, and the court ruling in our favour is a crucial win in the ongoing fight to protect marine biodiversity, restore nature and combat climate change. 

What was the case? 

The Italian government had approved drilling for gas in the iconic UNESCO heritage site, right next to a Marine Protected Area, intended to create a safe haven for some of Europe’s most important marine wildlife like bottlenose dolphins and loggerhead sea turtles. The approval gave Australian company Po Valley Operations permission to build a major gas platform – known as the ‘Teodorico’ project. 

So, working with other NGOs, we challenged the project in 2021, arguing that the state had failed to assess the impacts of gas exploitation activities on the adjacent protected area. 

The judge agreed with us that this failure was a breach of EU and Italian nature laws, overturned the company’s permit to operate, and stopped the gas platform being built and any drilling going forward. 

Approving this project sacrificed wildlife for oil and gas. It was a lesson in how not to fight climate change and a clear breach of EU and Italian laws – but this crucial win reverses that. It is another victory in a patchwork of fights to restore our ocean and rebuild wildlife populations. Climate change and species loss threaten all life on Earth. Against this backdrop, protected really has to mean protected.

Francesco Maletto, ClientEarth lawyer

Why did we take it?  

Approving this project breached Italian and EU laws – as the judge confirmed. Construction in and around protected areas is forbidden in Italy. At EU level, projects like this must always be subject to intense scrutiny because of the impact they can have on the habitats and wildlife being protected – but in this case, no impact assessments were done. 

Gas exploitation has already created ongoing and major stability problems for the area around the Po Delta, with many properties lost to the rising water. This new project had raised further concerns of coastal collapse. 

Italy has pledged to phase out coal by 2025 but approvals like Teodorico call into question the government’s commitment to urgently quit fossil fuels. 

Our wildlife and habitats lawyer Francesco Maletto said at the time: “Approving this new gas platform on the border of a protected area, and without even assessing the project’s impact on it, is incomprehensible and a blatant breach of national and EU nature laws.” 

What support did the case have?  

In Italy, the project has also been met with public and political outcry from across the political spectrum. A claim was also filed by the management of the Po Regional Park, nine Municipalities and the Province of Rovigo. The ruling concludes this case too. 

The strong public opposition to this gas project came amid Italy’s recent decision to ban cruise ships from the Venice Lagoon. That decision was made after UNESCO threatened to put Venice on its endangered list unless Italy made changes to the types of ships docking in the world heritage site. Concerns were also raised that the Teodorico project would further increase the risk of the land gradually collapsing, which is already occurring at an alarming rate due to the fossil fuel exploitation already taking place in the region, with former farms submerged. 

What happens now? 

This court win has blocked the gas platform and stopped drilling going ahead. The company can appeal, so we’ll be watching next steps.  

Countries like Italy are moving beyond coal but look dangerously like they may turn to gas instead of powering up on renewables. If choices like this are made across Europe, climate goals will not be met. 

Francesco added: “Two parallel crises threaten life on Earth: climate change and species loss. Prioritising fossil fuel exploitation over wildlife protection exacerbates both.” 

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