Italy’s energy system has changed notably since 2010 and today the country’s energy mix includes more natural gas and renewable energies and less coal and oil. From a lower base than the IEA average, Italy’s energy intensity, measured by the ratio of total final consumption (TFC) to gross domestic product (GDP), declined by 15% between 2005 and 2021, reflecting a shift in the economic structure from industrial to the service sector combined with energy efficiency improvements.

Italy is on track to reach the emissions reductions and energy efficiency targets set in its National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) for 2030. However, it will need to make substantial additional efforts to meet the much more ambitious new targets for 2030 stemming from the European Union’s (EU) Fit-for-55 (FF55) package (and that are still being defined in the EU legislative process) as well as to align with the even more ambitious objectives proposed by the REPowerEU plan aimed at rapidly reducing the European Union’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels. Italy reduced total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by almost 30% between 2005 and 2019. There was an additional strong dip from 2019 to 2020 largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but preliminary data show a noticeable rebound of emissions in 2021, although they were still 4% lower than in 2019.

Italy is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Energy poverty has been a key policy issue ever since the presentation of the Clean Energy for All European package in 2016 and has gained more importance in Italian energy policy in light of the recent massive price increases for natural gas and electricity.

The government is implementing several policy measures to restore affordability across the board, but there is scope for more targeted interventions to combat energy poverty.