“Bringing together social and environmental justice is crucial. Today we are struggling a bit due to the lack of dialogue, of the ability to complete each other, to think together. Injustice and inequalities have grown over the years and this should alarm us.” These are the words of Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna and president of the CEI, during the conference “In dialogue: to build social and environmental justice” which was held last 22 April at Palazzo d'Accursio in Bologna, on the occasion of the Day of Terra, meeting organized by the Inequality and Diversity Forum, Italian Caritas and the National Office for Social Problems and Work (Italian Episcopal Conference), with the support of the Alliance for Just Transitions.
“We must realize the inequalities and their causes, which depend on the fact that we have accepted that some mechanisms were not corrected. Even today the risk that social justice, which also includes the right to work, is in conflict with the environment, health protection and ecology, has not been resolved. Let's think about the Taranto case where we have a disaster. If politics cannot predict, it does not play its role and it means that other pressures determine choices. We pay very little attention to forecasts, so there is a lot of immediate opportunism. On the Taranto case it is necessary to make a serious examination of all the errors made in social and environmental justice”, concluded Zuppi, who during the meeting spoke with the former minister Fabrizio Barca, co-coordinator of the Inequalities and Diversity Forum.
“Today – observed Barca – with the extraordinary complexity of the decisions to be made, combining social and environmental is possible and urgent, but it requires continuous dialogue to understand the effects of each decision, not dirigisme even if benevolent. This can create a systemic policy suited to the contexts, an industrial policy that supports entrepreneurs on the frontier of green innovation. The slowdown in environmental policies at European level is not only a disaster for everyone but an absurd missed opportunity for the development of Europe, which we read about in every editorial”.
The dialogue between Zuppi and Barca, moderated by Vanessa Pallucchi, spokesperson of the National Third Sector Forum, started from four already active experiences, moderated by Andrea Morniroli, co-coordinator of the Inequalities and Diversity Forum: Eros Gualandi, president of the agricultural cooperative Il Raccolto di Bologna, Carmen Nappo, employee of Italia Green Factory (formerly Whirlpool), Francesco Tonelli, representative of La Fraternità Onlus metropolitan area of Bologna and Alessandro Caspoli, for the Diocese of Bologna, who exposed perspectives and obstacles encountered in weaving the attention to social justice with that to environmental justice.
The conference was opened by institutional greetings from the mayor of Bologna, Matteo Lepore. Don Marco Pagniello, director of Italian Caritas, introduced him, launching an appeal to the national and European political class to work to build a fairer and more sustainable future for all.
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