Protest Against Gas Extraction in the Upper Adriatic Sea
Shot on Canon EOS 500D
The Po Delta region is a UNESCO Biosphere reserve. The local economy is primarily based on fisheries and tourism.
Natural gas extraction began in the region in 1935. Today Italy's largest LNG terminal is located just off the coast. A large part of the local municipalities' budget needs to be allocated to water pumps, which keep the soil dry after it has sunk below sea level due to the subsidence caused by the depletion of underwater methane reserves. Air quality indicators are very poor.
A decree by the right-wing Meloni government provisioned new oil and gas exploration and production licenses in the Northern Adriatic, off the shores of the Po Delta. The local population, worried about the possibility of their conditions worsening as a result of the new licensing, took the streets to protest against the decree on the 4th of February. Various civil society organizations and local politicians voiced their concerns.
