Calabria conference on area future, green economy

Researchers, professors, entrepreneurs and institutional representatives will converge here on October 6 to debate how renewable energy, sustainable tourism, and smart cities can reverse environmental degradation and prevent mass migrations in the Mediterranean. Titled The Future of Mediterranean Economies and the Promise of Green Economy, the one-day conference is organized by Rome's Tor Vergata University, the Soverato municipality, the Italian Association of Environmental Economists and the Soverato Bay Marine Park. A sea that is increasingly at risk on every level, and on which the livelihood of millions depends, the Mediterranean is crisscrossed by 30% of the world's cargo ships, including 25% of the world's oil tankers, and 30% of the world's tourists. Experts at the conference will put their heads together to come up with ways to reduce man-made wastes, switch fossil-fuel based economies to ones based on green, renewable energy, and introduce sustainable development in the poorest Mediterranean areas, so that people will no longer flee them in search of decent livelihoods elsewhere. Among the participants is Francesco La Camera, a high official from the environmental ministry, who will conduct a round table on issues in the Mediterranean region.