Emanuele Orsini, the president of
Italian industry association Confindustria, on Monday warned
that there will be devastating consequences for business if the
government presses ahead with plans to make it obligatory for
firms to be insured for climate-related extreme-weather events.
"It could become a big problem," Orsini said.
"In the territories where there are problems (with
extreme-weather events), industrialists may stop investing.
"That would amount to desertifying parts of the country and we
cannot afford that.
"'We must take very serious initiatives, sit down at a table and
find solutions.
"We must ensure that floods do not occur and that structures are
strong enough in the case of earthquakes".
At the weekend, Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo
Salvini said that he was opposed to the idea mooted by Civil
Protection Minister Nello Musumeci of making it obligatory also
for households to take out insurance to cover their properties
for damage caused by extreme weather events.
After last week's devastating flooding in Emilia Romagna and
Marche, Musumeci said that making house insurance obligatory was
likely as the State cannot afford to keep compensating people
for the impact of extreme-weather events, which are become more
frequent and more intense because of the climate crisis caused
by human greenhouse gas emissions.
But League leader Salvini said that such a measure would not
have his support. "The State can give recommendations, this
applies to insurance too," Salvini said at an event staged by
construction association Confedilizia in Piacenza.
"It can give advice, but we do not live in a State that imposes
things, where the State forbids or obliges us to do things".
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