Waste: the contribution of Zero Waste and geography to the implementation of the PNRR. – Waste is a central problem of global society, capable of deeply undermining the future of the planet. The consumerist mentality and practices are know for guaranteeing productions capable of responding to a growing demand that is ever more diversified. However, less concern has been given to the so-called final ring of the economic system, the one related to waste management. This lack of attention has ensured that a solution to the issue of waste cannot be longer postponed, but has to be considered the starting point for reconsidering the entire process, investing with energy and foresight on the cultural, even before economic, value of circularity, as an alternative to the short-sighted and no long-er sustainable linear model. And it is precisely within this framework, theoretical and practical at the same time, that the PNRR policies must depart and try to be effective, capable of taking up the challenge proposed by Zero Waste: overturn the metaphor of the pyramid and insert in the broad apex a new design of the entire production and consumption chain, at the corporate and domestic, collective and individual, local and global levels. This desirable renewed direction of thought will benefit from the help of geographical reflection, able to propose, thanks to its gaze capable of keeping together different elements and various plans, important concepts and functional criteria to undertake a definitive change of course, towards an effective sustainability.

Environmental transition and energy transition. A regional analysis – The relationship between environmental quality and GDP has been emphasized in the past, placing the accent on the “natural” trend towards improving environmental quality during the maturity of economic growth, after its deterioration in “takeoff” phases of the economy, according the socalled Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). This condition has in many parts been disavowed or weakened. In the same way, an attempt was made to read the energy transition through the EKC filter, but a regional analysis, carried out within the European Union, of the components of the energy transition (energy demand, intensity of energy, consumption of fossil fuels and renewables) shows that these conditions can vary considerably from country to country and that policies can determine changes, not just economic growth.

Environmental protection and National Energy Balance. Geographical Considerations in the Perspective of a Process of Virtuous Innovation. – The EU’s European Environmental Agency defines the target of pollution limits to be observed by our member’s for the progressive reduction of environmental impact. Italy as a whole respects the limits of the Effort Sharing Decision to 2020, but presents problems of concentration of NO2 and PM10 in many urban areas. Analyzing national energy consumption, we identify the geopolitical and geoeconomic structural causes that condition the structure of the hydrocarbon dependence of the National Energy Balance. Within this “scenario”, the contribution discusses the strategies and interventions necessary for the reshaping of energy consumption towards stable results of active environmental balance.