Victory for Nature as Offshore Drilling Gets Halted

The fragile Po Delta has been saved from offshore gas drilling after environmental groups successfully blocked the project. This safeguards one of Italy’s most important nature-rich ecosystems from further climate impacts.

“Approving this project sacrificed wildlife for oil and gas; it was a lesson in how not to fight climate change and a clear breach of EU and Italian laws – but this crucial win reverses that,” exclaims ClientEarth lawyer Francesco Maletto. “It is another victory in a patchwork of fights to restore our ocean and rebuild wildlife populations.”

The 500km² Po Delta – a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve – is home to 350 bird species and over a thousand plant species. It is one of the Mediterranean’s most extensive and wealthiest wetlands, made of lagoons, marshes, beaches, and farmland with rivers. The Teodorico project, aimed at extracting up to 10 billion meters of gas over 16 years, threatened the Po Delta’s rich biodiversity and fragile habitat. “The drilling would be irrelevant for our energy needs but have a considerable impact on the environment,” explains the Veneto region’s president, Luca Zaia. NGOs like ClientEarth, Legambiente, LIPU-Birdlife Italy, WWF Italy, and Greenpeace Italy argued that the Italian government had failed to assess the environmental impacts on the protected area properly. This breach of EU and Italian natural laws led the judge to overturn the company’s permit and block the gas platform from being built.