Two years ago, with Constitutional Law No. 1 of February 11, 2022, environmental and nature protection entered the Italian Constitutional Charter. With the almost unanimous vote of Parliament (in several passages the Fratelli d'Italia group abstained), Article 9 and Article 41 of the Constitution were reformed. In Article 9, the protection of the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems, including in the interest of future generations, was included among the fundamental principles of the Constitution, recalling the need to protect animals through the laws of the state. In Article 41, the principle was enshrined that private economic initiative, while free, cannot be carried out in a way that harms the environment, and that economic activity, both public and private, must also be directed and coordinated for environmental purposes. This was an important reform that confirmed a direction already outlined by the Constitutional Court and made our Constitution more current and in line with the most recent fundamental laws of other countries. But how much do Italian citizens know about the 2022 reform and how important do they think it is to have included environmental protection in the Constitution? These questions were answered by a new survey commissioned by WWF Italy from EMG Different, which conducted 800 online interviews with CAWI (Computer Aided Web Interview) support to a sample of Italians aged 18 to 70 years that is representative of the population by age, geographic area and size centers of Italian municipalities. Only 28% of the sample said they knew that a constitutional reform had been passed that included protection of the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems in our Constitution. The figure, which rises to 33% among those with higher education, appears low, but still up from a year ago when another survey, also conducted for WWF Italy by EMG Different, set the percentage of Italians aware of this reform at 14%. In one year, the percentage has thus doubled, a sign that Italians' interest in environmental issues continues to grow.
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