Houses still invaded by mud, streets covered in debris and personal objects destined for landfill: three days after the violent flood that hit Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Greenpeace Italia has documented the devastation left by the flooding of the Torre river in the hamlet of Versa, in the province of Gorizia.
For a few hours, the environmental organization has been active on site with a rescue unit organized together with the local community and local associations. Thanks to the help of volunteers from all over Italy, armed with pressure washers, bins and generators, we are working tirelessly to free homes and streets from mud and offer support to the affected families.
We intervened to provide support directly to the population, but also to denounce the responsibilities of the large oil and gas companies which, with the complicity of the government, fuel these extreme events through out-of-control emissions. They must pay for the damages, not people, says Federico Spadini, of the Greenpeace Italia climate campaign.
The exceptional rainfall, flooding and landslides that affected much of the Center and North confirm the increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in a climate now destabilized by dependence on fossil fuels. A territory compromised by land consumption contributes to worsening the effects of precipitation, which amplifies the risk of hydrogeological instability.
The climate and environmental crisis entails very high human, social and economic costs, which fall directly on citizens and public spending.
On the occasion of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP30) underway in Belém, Brazil, Greenpeace is calling on governments to drastically reduce emissions, accelerate the exit from the fossil fuel era, protect territories and introduce taxation on companies in the sector, which are mainly responsible for the climate crisis, so that they pay for the damage caused.
Meanwhile, our Earth is folded in two.
