Soil consumption, climate change, and large commercial structures. The Italian case study. – In Italy, between 2006 and 2022, over 1,200 km2 of land was consumed, most of which was derived from urban expansion processes. There are many relationships between soil consumption and climate change, both in causes and consequences. In this work, I focus on the soil consumption of large commercial structures, such as shopping centers, factory outlets, and retail parks. In Italy, there are over 1,300 of these structures, and – apart from the few cases that have occupied areas derived from the reconversion of abandoned industrial sites or other urbanized areas – they have mostly developed in rural areas or by occupying residual urban and suburban green areas. In this work, I first reviewed the interna-tional literature on soil consumption deriving from GSCs, discovering that it is extremely rare and does not deal with this type of urbanization independently but only in a generic way as one of the many aspects of urban sprawl. Instead, they become protagonists of scientific literature when they are abandoned. There is no specific legislation in the European Union or Italy on soil consumption in commercial areas. In Italy, the legislature in this matter is delegated to the regions. Still, despite the existence of restrictive regional laws on land consumption, there is no effective response to the problem at the moment.

NextGenerationEU between pandemic, war, and energy transition. – The energy transition has been strongly questioned by the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The European Green Deal – designed and approved before the Covid-19 pandemic – became fully part of economic recovery program of the pandemic, and the war as well. Actually, the Green Deal becomes one of the fundamental pillars of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Plan, as well as of NextGenerationEU and, consequently, of the various national plans related to it, including the Italian PNRR. As a typical win-win policy, NextGenerationEU must solve the problems related to the economic crisis, and those related to environmental quality, through the energy transition, as well. Obviously, the economic recover does not necessarily fit perfectly into an energy transition program. Actually, the policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions might imply many issues, related to economy and labor policies. Added to this are the socio-economic gaps between the countries that make up the EU, which have produced an energy divide (different levels of energy demand, different efficiency, different composition of primary energy sources), which has also further increased. from the pandemic, which requires a “calibrated” approach. This condition produces a more complex energy transition, and in many countries - especially those with the lowest GDP per capita - it could create obstacles to economic recovery. Although a Just Transition Mechanism has been prepared, precisely to bridge these gaps, the energy transition could be perceived as an external interference and a brake on growth, becoming a lever for forms of nationalism and sovereignty in key anti-European. The proposed work - after analyzing the structure of the energy supply in the EU, highlighting the inconsistencies in it - will address the impact of the Green Deal in the energy transition process associated with the relaunch of the economy.

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.

Health crisis and oil crisis. – The collapse in the oil price recorded in the early months of 2020 has far roots, but finds the contingent reasons in the health crisis caused by Covid-19. The health crisis Covid-19 produces a sharp drop in oil demand, first by China and then by other countries that gradually, after China, will suffer the effects of the coronavirus and proceeded to the so-called lockdown, that leads to the reduction of pro-ductive and commercial activities, limiting the movement of the population from their home. In this work we will highlight the connections between the health crisis and the oil price crisis, also highlighting the problems related to the international geopolitical context.