Climate change and the Italian Constitution: the origin of a revolution

Constitutional Law No. 1/2022 is one of those destined to change the historical course of Italy, which recovers the sense of vast horizons. In the restless and mobile Italian political chessboard, in fact, environmental protection has always been a minor pawn. However, the emerging historical conditions, dictated by climate change, whose incomparable power our fragile terrestrial borders feel every year, have led the legislator to return to the issue the importance it deserves, starting with its inclusion in the Constitutional Charter. In the hierarchy of values and principles, consequently, environmental protection has gone from the last places to the first, and seems destined to remain there for a very long time, if not forever. The analysis developed in this essay will develop along two main directives: 1. a brief examination of the legal concept of environment over time in doctrine and jurisprudence, trying to unravel the eternal skein that has been created by the contrast between the monist and pluralist conception; 2. the role that climate change could play in providing the correct interpretation of the new Articles 9 and 41. The essay, therefore, aims to highlight how the relationship between climate change and the Constitution should be conceived as the starting point of a legislative path that, as stated in the constitutional text, puts the protection of the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems in the foreground, also in the interest of future generations.