Environment and biodiversity

The Italian Health Impact Assessment (VIS) is a multidisciplinary participatory technique intended to assist public decision-makers in understanding the potential effects of policies, plans, programmes, and initiatives on community health. In recent years, in the Italian legal system, the instrument has found repeated applications, with different terminological variations, in the regional sphere and at an administrative level. At the national regulatory level, the VIS has found recognition in a series of recent amendments to the Consolidated Environmental Protection Act, specifically in environmental impact assessment procedures, through a configuration that appears to be far from the international model of Health Impact Assessment (HIA). The amendments require the private sector to do research on the specific health implications, while ensuring that the health component of the environmental impact assessment is carried out within a procedural framework established by the relevant public administration.

With constitutional law n. 1 of 11 February 2022, the Republic is assigned the task of protecting the environment, biodiversity, and ecosystems (including in the interests of future generations). State law has to regulate the methods and forms of animal protection. For the first time, the protection of animals is mentioned in the constitutional text and, significantly, that protection is in the part dedicated to 'fundamental principles'. The text has some limitations. Nevertheless, this reform represents a step forward in line with the experiences of other countries of the European Union (and beyond), as well as with European Union law.