Publications

This guideline takes the reader through the topic of climate change and its close interconnection with emission sources. Starting with the “Environmental Statements” of a sample of EMAS-certified power plants which produce electrical energy from fossil fuels it examines the CO 2 , NOx, CO and SO X emissions produced in the period between 2011 and 2019. The results show how the energy sector, thanks to the implementation of an Environmental Management System, can correctly manage air emissions and continuously improve on them.

This Guideline represents the completion of the previous ISPRA Report “The Sectoral Reference Document for EMAS” to which the sheets relating to the other Sectoral Reference Documents published by the European Commission have been added. The document intends to encourage EMAS registered organizations, as required by the European Regulation itself, to make a wider and more widespread use of the Sectoral Reference Documents, issued by the European Commission in order to identify and promote the best environmental management practices, environmental performance for specific sectors and, where appropriate, examples of excellence that make it possible to determine the levels of environmental performance.

The Black rat (Rattus rattus) is one of the most globally widespread invasive species, having successfully colonized all continents thanks to human transportation. The species is known for its significant impact on human activities, public health and ecosystems, and it is included in the IUCN's list of the “100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species”.

These guidelines present a collection of recommendations and best practices to be used for preventing and controlling the spread of some of the most common invasive plant species in Mediterranean islands and coastal areas. Along with operational guidance, they provide an overview of the basic concepts of plant invasion biology, regulatory references, and management techniques, to disseminate knowledge and share good practices. 

One of the main activities of the Conservation Genetic Department, in ISPRA, consists in enforcing the rules of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) with the aim of identifying any illicit trades of endangered species. The genetic analyses are the basic stone in verifying whether specimens are legally owned by authorised breeders or if there are inconsistencies with the birth declarations and/or any suspected illegal collection of specimens from the wild. For these reasons, a correct biological sample collection protocol is pivotal in ensuring the reliability of the results and requires trained personnel.

National trends of energy and economic indicators have been analyzed in relation to greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. Particular attention was paid to the electricity sector, one of the main players in the national energy system. The role of factors determining greenhouse gas emission trends has been analyzed, such as economic growth, fossil and renewable fuels composition, transformation efficiency, and fossil fuel emission factors. With regard to electricity sector, the emission factors of greenhouse gases and other atmospheric contaminants have been elaborated.

The report describes the greenhouse gas emissions and removals in Italy, at the end of the second period of the Kyoto Protocol, based on the data officially transmitted in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and the Mechanism of Greenhouse Gas Monitoring of the European Union

The report describes the reporting of emissions of transboundary substances that Italy officially communicates in accordance with the requirements of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CRLTAP/UNECE) and relevant Protocols. Information on the Italian inventory up to the year 2020 is provided, including an explanation of methodologies, data sources, QA/QC activities and verification processes carried out during the inventory compilation, with an analysis of emission trends and a description of key categories.

The report describes the reporting of emissions of greenhouse gases that Italy officially communicates in accordance with the requirements of the United Nation Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and the European Union’s Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Mechanism.

In the continuation of a collaboration between the Environmental Agencies of Friuli Venezia Giulia and Lombardy, the University of Turin and ISPRA (Italian Institute for Environmental Protection), this report contains the results of an interlaboratory comparison aimed at assessing the performance of the participating laboratories in the taxonomic identification of benthic diatoms in surface water bodies

ISPRA, as required by the legislation (Art. 199 - paragraph 6, letter a) of Legislative Decree 152/06), has started the activities of developing risk assessment criteria as a national reference for the Regional Plans for the Remediation of Polluted Areas (PRBs). This report illustrates the activities conducted in the first phase (phase 1), in which national priority criteria are first identified, to apply to potentially contaminated sites, with the support of the Technical Table, set up with Regions and ARPA, starting with the reconnaissance of criteria available at national and international level.

Efficiency and decarbonization indicators updated to 2020 have been analyzed in relation to energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The 2020 is the benchmark year to verify the EU's climate and energy targets established with the Climate and Energy Package. Moreover, in 2020 the Covid-19 emergency has heavily affected the European countries’ economy and GHG emissions.

The Report on Waste from Economic Activities, now in its twenty-first edition, is the result of a complex activity of collection, analysis and processing of data by the National Centre for Waste and Circular Economy of ISPRA, with the contribution of regional and provincial Environmental Protection Agencies. The Report implements a specific task required by article 189, of legislative decree. n. 152 of 3th April 2006. The conference, in the presence of the ministry, represents an opportunity for discussion with the main stakeholders on how the waste management system has reacted is reacting to the Covid-19 emergency and how it is getting ready for the enormous challenges of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan PNRR.

This report illustrates the activity carried out to disaggregate on a provincial basis the emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases estimated in the national emissions inventory prepared by ISPRA. The estimates were obtained using a top-down approach and calculated for the years: 1990 - 1995 - 2000 - 2005 - 2010 - 2015 - 2019.

This Report represents the report of the preliminary activities in support of the Ministry of Ecological Transition for the issue of the Integrated Environmental Authorizations of state competence carried out during the year 2021.

The Report presents a study on the measures to prevent the production of urban waste adopted by local administrations to which a specific questionnaire prepared by ISPRA. This questionnaire is divided into 20 questions elaborated in the light of the measures established for the new National Waste Prevention Program by art. 180 of Legislative Decree 152/06 (amended by Legislative Decree 116/2020).

The document analyses key emerging environmental topics (natural capital, climate change, circular economy and environment and health) through three different approaches based on the use and exploitation of the trends of the most relevant indicators in the Environmental Indicators’ Database ( Banca dati indicatori ambientali)