Press release
Italian gas platform dead in the water as lawyers defeat national government in court
29 November 2024
A huge gas project off Italy’s treasured Po Delta has been cancelled after a major judgment against the Italian government.
The environmental lawyers who brought the case are hailing it as a “crucial win” in the ongoing fight to protect marine biodiversity, restore nature and combat climate change.
The Italian government had approved drilling for gas in the iconic UNESCO heritage site, on the doorstep of a Marine Protected Area – supposed to be a safe haven for marine mammals. The approval gave Australian company Po Valley Operations permission to build a major gas platform – known as the ‘Teodorico’ project.
NGOs ClientEarth, Legambiente, LIPU-Birdlife Italy, WWF Italy and Greenpeace Italy challenged the project in 2021, arguing that the state had failed to assess the impacts of gas exploitation activities on the adjacent protected area, home to dolphins, loggerhead turtles and a host of other linchpin species.
The judge confirmed that this failure was a breach of EU and Italian nature laws, overturning the company’s permit to operate, and preventing the gas platform being built.
ClientEarth lawyer Francesco Maletto said: “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.”
National disregard for Marine Protected Areas has been the subject of a spate of litigation in the EU in recent months. ClientEarth is currently petitioning the European Commission to take the Greek government to task over its permission for oil and gas exploration and exploitation in a global hotspot for marine biodiversity. Cases regarding fishing using destructive bottom-trawling gear are ongoing in France, Spain and Germany.
Giorgia Gaibani, head of Natura 2000 at LIPU-Birdlife Italy, said it was “an important ruling that reaffirms the need to protect protected areas in order to effectively tackle the climate and biodiversity crises.”
Andrea Minutolo, Head of the Scientific Unit at Legambiente said: “This is an important signal, from a climate and environmental point of view, in this historical moment in which the Italian government continues to focus on gas and oil extraction instead of focusing on the development of renewables.”
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.
Mariagrazia Midulla, Head of Climate and Energy at WWF Italy, said: "Drilling projects in Italy only benefit the companies that carry them out. Pointing to a flawed gas emergency argument to justify it is wrong - and sacrificing a protected nature area would have been deeply wrong. Italy needs to think about implementing the energy transition and renewables.”
Chiara Campione, programme co-director of Greenpeace Italy said: “This is a vital step towards climate justice and the protection of our oceans. Blocking the Teodorico project shows that the era of sacrificing nature for fossil fuels is over.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
The Teodorico project, from Po Valley Energy (of Po Valley Operations), was approved by Ministerial Decree in March 2021 by the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition (now Ministry of Environment and Energy Security), in agreement with the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Due to its historical and ecological importance, the Po Delta is a classified UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Teodorico Project was set to border the ‘North Venetian Adriatic–Po Delta’ Marine Protected Area, which had been appointed for the conservation of protected species such as the bottlenose dolphin and loggerhead sea turtle. The Italian authorities have also proposed the Marine Protected Area as a Site of Community Importance (SCI), or ‘Natura 2000 site’, under EU law.
The gas project had inspired regional outcry. The Veneto and Emilia-Romagna local authorities had intervened in the case in support of the NGOs, and a parallel action had been brought by the regional park and local authorities. This court ruling successfully concludes both.
The European Commission has an ongoing legal procedure open against Italy for its failure to properly designate and implement Natura 2000 sites. It identifies serious gaps in protecting marine species, such as the Mediterranean monk seal, the loggerhead sea turtle and the bottlenose dolphin, as well as marine habitats like reefs.
The judgment is available here.
About ClientEarth
ClientEarth is a non-profit organisation that uses the law to create systemic change that protects the Earth for – and with – its inhabitants. We are tackling climate change, protecting nature and stopping pollution, with partners and citizens around the globe. We hold industry and governments to account, and defend everyone’s right to a healthy world. From our offices in Europe, Asia and the USA we shape, implement and enforce the law, to build a future for our planet in which people and nature can thrive together.