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Intervento dell’Ambasciatore d’Italia, Gianluigi Benedetti in occasione della Tokyo World Conference for Tokyo Resilience (Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Tokyo, 8 maggio 2024)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

It is with great honor that I welcome you all to the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo for this symposium. I warmly thank the Executive Committee Chairman Kotaro Takemura, all the organizers and Director Silvana De Maio for having us here.

 

Today, we gather with a sense of urgency and shared responsibility to face a challenge that knows no borders: the urgent need to protect our cities and the life within, from climate change and extreme weather events.

 

Tokyo, a city renowned for its resilience in the face of natural disasters, now finds itself at the forefront of this battle against climate change. The estimations of potential damage from earthquakes and storms highlight the urgent need for comprehensive disaster preparedness measures.

 

In these years, many ambitious projects have been set out in Tokyo to get people and structures ready for extreme events, one-hundred years after the Great Kanto Earthquake. I think that all the major world cities should build upon these initiatives to ensure a higher degree of resilience.

 

Now, turning my thoughts to Italian cities, Venice immediately comes to my mind. A symbol of power and ingenuity, Venice has become increasingly fragile and vulnerable to rising tides, climate change and overtourism. In one single place, Venice exemplifies many of the challenges modern cities face and reminds us all to act swiftly to safeguard not only our cultural heritage, but the very fabric of our societies.

 

By attaching great importance to cultural heritage, Italy understands the urgency to preserve our past making good use of modern technology. The MOSE project in Venice is an ambitious endeavor to protect the city from flooding and to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

 

A definitive solution, however, will be reached only addressing the root causes of global warming and by involving more countries and more people in a form of development that can really be sustainable.

 

I hope that this conference today will foster mutual understanding and collaboration in tackling our common challenges. I extend my gratitude to all participants for your dedication to this crucial cause. May this symposium serve as a catalyst for meaningful action and enduring partnerships as we work towards a future where cities like Venice and Tokyo thrive as beacons of resilience and hope.