Nevada

The environmental cooperation between Italy and Nevada has started on October 17^th , 2016 in Rome with the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Italian Ministry for the Environment and the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development regarding the sectors of vulnerability to climate change, risk evaluation, adaptation and mitigation.

The agreement, undersigned by the Director General of Sustainable Development, Francesco La Camera, and by the Governor for Economic Development, Kristopher Sanchez, is the result of the willing of the Italian Minister for the Environment, Gian Luca Galletti, and of the Governor of Nevada, Brian Edward Sandoval, who met in Rome in August 2015.

Italy and Nevada, as agreed in the Mid-Term Work Plan in Las Vegas on 2 March 2017, will collaborate in order to promote joint projects and initiatives, including in developing countries, in the following sectors:

• definition and implementation of strategies for the mitigation of climate change with particular reference to renewable energies;
• collection, analysis and sharing of meteorological data relevant for the measurement of the impacts of climate change on potentially  vulnerable sectors (water, health, ecosystems, urban and rural areas, agriculture, tourism, etc.);
• research activity at regional level to support better decision making in the environmental field;
• investment strategies to promote the development and trade of green technologies.

The preparation of the project proposals has been assigned to ad hoc joint Working Groups composed of experts from the institutions that have undersigned the Memorandum and of representatives of the scientific world, among which the Desert Research Institute (DRI) of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Projects will be defined on the basis of a preparatory work aimed at exchanging knowledge on experiences, technologies and good practices concerning topics such as:

• impact of climate changes on river flows and on hydrological cycle;
• management of floods in urban areas;
• possible use of drones for monitoring and implementation of environmental policies, with particular reference to the application of these technologies in specific sectors such as the Climate Smart Agriculture.