Focus on COP30 with Marco Frey and Alberto Pirni. The contribution of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies to the energy transition and the assessment of a conference that could mark a turning point in the global management of the climate emergency

COP30 could represent a turning point in the global management of the climate emergency. We asked the representatives of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies at the UN Conference for an assessment of their experience: Marco Frey, coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Sustainability and Climate, and Alberto Pirni, Associate Professor at the Dirpolis Institute.

Interview with Prof. Marco Frey

This year as well, the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies took part in the United Nations Climate Change Conference. What was our University’s contribution?

“The School’s overall contribution concerned the role of a research institution in supporting knowledge processes and engaging different stakeholders in the climate challenge. At a UNFCCC side event on multilevel governance, the School presented its experience in the Ammirare research project, which involves multiple Italian and French regions and municipalities in applying nature-based solutions to improve coastal resilience and adaptation to climate-related events.
Then, at an event organized together with the University of Florence in the Italy Pavilion, we highlighted the community-based approach to managing the energy transition: in this case, citizens become prosumers.
A third intervention, in the Global Compact Pavilion, focused on the role of businesses in defining transition plans for climate change. A fourth contribution concerned the role of education and research on the sustainability of sports, presented at the Higher Education for Climate Action Pavilion.”

Pope Leo XIV’s words are more than a warning: “It is not the Paris Agreement that is failing; it is we who are failing in our response.” Is there still time to meet the Paris Agreement targets?

“We are certainly very late, even though some positive signs of a possible turnaround have begun to emerge. The main issue is the lack of a shared vision—a multilateral approach that had enabled the Paris Agreement to take off. In Belém, the active presence of Indigenous peoples represented a bottom–up push that should help governments regain a unified strategic vision.
The Paris mechanism for NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) has been enriched from the bottom up by local contributions, including those defined by Indigenous communities.
From this perspective, it is essential to bring together everyone’s contribution, including businesses, in that multilevel and multi-stakeholder push we mentioned earlier.”

What can a public institution like our University do to raise public awareness on the climate emergency?

“In this context, the School can also play a role. With the establishment of an Interdisciplinary Center on Sustainability and Climate, we aimed to give full substance to our commitment in this field. We are therefore called to develop and disseminate the knowledge needed to find systemic and innovative solutions to the climate change challenge.
We do this through our research projects, which at COPs always find a receptive audience willing to collaborate. Indeed, it is through partnerships with institutions, companies, and other research bodies that we are able to increase the effectiveness and impact of our work.”

Interview with Prof. Alberto Pirni

What were the key topics of your contributions at COP30?

“At this edition of the COP, I had the valuable opportunity to give three presentations.
The first took place during the workshop organized by the School in collaboration with the Universities of Florence and Perugia, titled ‘Stakeholder Engagement and Community-based Approaches in Energy Transition Processes and Initiatives’. I offered a theoretical framing of the so-called energy equity, with particular reference to a combined profile of procedural, distributive, and intergenerational justice, within the framework of research already underway in the Ethics area.
In the second presentation, during the workshop ‘Scientific Approaches and Innovative Management in Water Sector for Sustainability and Adaptation to Climate Change’ organized by our partner Acqua Novara, I continued presenting some project aspects related to the Water Ethics agenda, highlighting interdisciplinary elements concerning effective and conscious water resource management.
In the third presentation, organized by Save the Children and titled ‘Climate Justice for a More Equal and Sustainable Future: A Commitment to the Rights of Children, Youth and Women at COP30’, I outlined the need for an expanded understanding of intergenerational justice, envisioning the role of younger generations as co-active participants in a joint effort to face ethical–climate challenges that involve both the global North and South and all living human generations.”

Your research area deals with ethical issues related to the climate crisis and the ecological transition. From this perspective, what is still lacking at the political level?

“At the political level, a significant obstacle remains, essentially twofold: what we call the motivational gap and short-termism. In short: why should I do what I know to be necessary, knowing that I will face high costs and risks—moral, political, personal well-being, and political consensus? There are ways to overcome these difficulties, and they lie in constant dialogue among stakeholders and in a continually renewed pact with clear goals and short-term interim assessments that must not be postponed.”

This edition revealed many contrasts in the global management of the climate emergency. For some, it was the ‘COP of truth’; for others, the ‘COP of contradictions’. Can you share your opinion?

“It is too early to draw conclusions, knowing that the last week of the COP can bring significant results. In recent days, I attended a press conference with the Vice President and the Minister of Sustainability and Climate Change of Brazil. The host country clearly recognizes the need not to let this become a missed opportunity—and later this week President Lula will also return to the COP.
There is a strong willingness to make the already agreed objectives operational, for example through specific acceleration hubs and by creating a fast track in negotiations on a few but crucial priorities: transparency, staying below the 1.5°C threshold, continuity in the roadmap for emissions reduction for businesses, and strengthening climate finance programs.
We await the outcome of this process, without illusions and, above all, without prejudices.”