Our history
ENG | ITA
The Center for a Sustainable Future (CFS) was born in 1989 with the support of parliamentarians from different political orientation on the issues of the global environment: protection of the ozone layer, protection of forests, fight to the greenhouse effect caused by CO2 emissions.
The first phase of activity has seen the development of numerous conventions and conferences; among the publications, two volumes deserve to be remembered for their absolute valor: “Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change: time to choose” (116 pages, Rome, 1990), “From Italy a strategy against the greenhouse effect” (146 pages, Rome, 1990).
Several legislative initiatives have been promoted under the auspices of CFS, with the support of MPs belonging to political parties with different orientation.
The original project has evolved into a foundation in early 2009, and was re-launched to contribute to the wider political consensus with a solid scientific approach: the next few years will be challenging for the transition to a “low-carbon” world, with the necessary transformations in the energy, transport, housing and lifestyle sectors.
The Foundation, a private law body, is a non-profit and cannot distribute profits. It has – as the sole purpose – the affirmation and diffusion of political, cultural and social values and objectives, in environmental terms.
The Foundation aims to promote:
• a correct and effective dialogue with the scientific worlds that are defining the real impact of emissions affecting the Earth’s climate;
• a qualified and constant information of the public and the involvement of the younger generations;
• organization of conferences and seminars in order to contribute to the cultural debate at national and international levels;
• awareness of public opinion on its own institutional purposes.
The Foundation is currently based in Via Tacito 88, Rome.
The promoter and President of CFS is Francesco Rutelli. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of three members. All Board members have always served at no cost (Rutelli is also the first subscriber of the self-financing campaign of the Foundation).
The programming of institutional activities, oriented at a first operating period of about ten years, has been set on five main areas:
• collaborations and scientific focus with national and international experts on environmental issues and climate change;
• collaboration with think tanks and subjects with whom the CFS has an interest in developing relations and initiatives;
• the activities of public discussion and dialogue, with the involvement of youth, in line with the Foundation’s aims and its political and cultural sensitivity;
• the production of information materials and documentation;
• the design and management of the Foundation’s website.
The Foundation has received – like other political, cultural and training organizations – donations by La Margherita – DL, over three years, for a total of € 1,126,000; in 2009 – 2012 the Foundation has supported economic costs for approximately € 657,000, broken down by chapters: 1) fixed and variable costs for offices and structure – € 125,000 , 2) institutional activities – €460,000 , 3) promotional activities – € 62,000 , 4) other miscellaneous costs – € 10,000.
The Foundation has not made use of contributions from companies that may affect its scientific and cultural elaboration; it implements its initiatives in partnership with other scientific, political and cultural entities; it uses professional resources according to its needs and their specific skills.
Among the numerous initiatives undertaken to date:
• 21 April 2009, a conference coordinated by Francesco Rutelli (held in Rome at Sala del Refettorio, Palazzo San Macuto), divided into two sessions: – “The House Plan: how to integrate economic development and environmental quality”, which saw the participation of: Giancarlo Allen, National Secretary ANAB (National Association of Bio-ecological Architecture); Bellicini Lorenzo, Director at CRESME (Research Center for Building and Territory); Paolo Buzzetti, President of ANCE (National Association of Builders); Firouz Galdo, Architect; Marzio Galeotti, Professor of Economics of Environment and Energy – University of Milan; Luigi Paganetto, President of ENEA – “The outlook for the Italian G8 Presidency for the climate, energy and the environment,” which saw the participation of: Franco Frattini, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Filippo Giorgi, scientist and IPCC member, Alessandro Lanza, Chief Executive Officer of Eni Corporate University; Senator Roberto Della Seta, Hon. Fabio Granata; Hon. Gianni Vernetti
• 18 May 2009, Conference “Growing and Greening the Economy – New ideas for the G8 and Copenhagen summit” (Sala della Lupa, italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome) in collaboration with the Center for American Progress. With the partecipation of: Senator Francesco Rutelli; Christine Loh, CEO of Civic Exchange – Hong Kong; Jiahua Pan, Executive Director of the Research Center for Sustainable Development in Beijing; Leena Srivastava, Executive Director of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in Delhi; Sen. Harunobu Yonenaga, responsible for environmental policies of the Democratic Party of Japan; Hon. Gianni Vernetti; Hon. Fabio Granata; Stefania Prestigiacomo, Minister of the Environment; Vittorio Prodi, MEP; Paolo Scaroni, CEO of ENI; Sen. Roberto Della Seta; Marzio Galeotti, Filippo Giorgi and Alessandro Lanza, members of the Foundation’s Scientific Committee; Matt Browne, Director of the Global Progress Program at Center for American Progress; Matthew Lockwood, Assistant Head of Climate Change Department at Center for American Progress; Simon Retallack, Director and Head of Climate Change at Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR); Ralph Fucks, President of the Heinrich Boll Foundation in Berlin.
• 19 October 2009, seminar titled “Environment: a stakeholder privileged”, held at the Association of Chartered Accountants (ODCEC), in collaboration with the Foundation Telos.
• 20 to 23 May 2010, participation at the Energy Festival in Lecce, to discuss issues related to energy and the environment in a debate titled: “Green Economy: an engine for development”, Sen. Francesco Rutelli discussed with : Jake Caldwell, Director of Policy for Agriculture, Trade and Energy at the Center for American Progress, Washington DC; Raffaele Chiulli, President at Safe; Paride De Masi, CEO at Italgest and National Coordinator for Renewable Energy at Confindustria; Alessandro Marangoni, Chief Executive Officer and Senior Partner of Althesys; Gianni Silvestrini, scientific director of the Kyoto Club; Francesco Zofrea, Vice President at Assoelettrica.
• 23 June 2010 (Sala Zuccari, Senate), International Conference titled “Climate, Energy, Environment: how to revive the Global Negotiation” sponsored in partnership with the Center of American Progress and the Institute of European Democrats (IED) attended, among others, by: Franco Frattini, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Emma Bonino, Vice-Chairman of the Senate; Vittorio Prodi, MEP; Hon. Gianni Vernetti; Hon. Fabio Granata; Sen. Roberto Della Seta; various MPs; various scientific italian referees of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change); the UN commission Nobel Prize winner, Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Republic of Maldives; Rubens Harry Born, Executive Director of Vitae Civilis – Institute for Development, Environment and Peace of St. Paul; Pan Jiahua, Executive Director of the Research Center for Sustainable Development in Beijing; Leena Srivastava, Executive Director of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi; Bracken Hendricks, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington; members of CFS’s scientific committee, Prof. Luigi Paganetto, Prof. Clara Poletti, Prof. Marzio Galeotti and Prof. Sergio Castellari.
• 16-18 December 2010, forum titled “The other energy: development prospects for a sustainable future” (held at Museo del Sannio in Benevento) promoted by the Province of Benevento in partnership with CFS Foundation, with the partecipation of: Firouz Galdo, Member Scientific Committee at CFS; Prof. Butera, Politecnico di Milano; Fausto Pepe, mayor of Benevento; Gianvito Bello, Councillor for Energy and the Environment of the Province of Benevento; Antonio Strambace, Ministry of Environment;Pedro Ballesteros, General Director for Energy at the European Commission.
• 7 June 2011, International Conference titled “Nuclear power and the future of energy: what changes after Fukushima and on the eve of the referendum?” (Sala del Mappamondo, the Chamber of Deputies, Rome) in collaboration with the Institute of European Democrats and the Center for American Progress. The event was attended, among others, by: Hirotami Murakoshi, Japanese parliamentary and vice-president of the Special Committee on Fukushima; Luigi Paganetto, President of tor Vergata University’s Economics Foundation; Stefano Casertano, Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Poznan; Flavio Cattaneo, CEO at Terna; Marzio Galeotti, Professor of Economics of Environment and Energy, University of Milan; Simone Mori, General Manager at ENEL; Giuseppe Onufrio, Director of Greenpeace Italy; Sen. Francesco Rutelli ; Stefano Saglia, UnderSecretary of Energy, italian government; MPs Pier Ferdinando Casini, Roberto Della Seta, Stefano De Lillo, Fabio Granata, Maurizio Lupi, Marianna Madia, Hermes Realacci, Gianni Vernetti, Santo Versace.
• 1 September 2011, Convention on the theme “After the nuclear, for green growth” (held in Wrasse), an initiative aiming to review the results of the referendum on nuclear power and make the point for a new national energy strategy. Speakers: Giuseppe Onufrio, Director of Greenpeace Italy; Marco Gisotti, author of ‘Guide to greenjobs’; Giuseppe Vatinno, member of the Technical Secretariat of Environment Minister Corrado Clini; Diego Tommasi, president of Ecological Alliance.
• The Conference titled “After Durban, towards the Rio +20 Summit: Climate can still be saved?”, An initiative set after the conclusion of the Summit in Durban and publication of Roadmap 2050, the political commitment towards a low-carbon economy. The work was coordinated by Sen. Francesco Rutelli and saw the participation of: Corrado Clini, Minister of the Environment; Mario Pirillo, MEP and rapporteur for the report “Roadmap 2050” at the European Parliament’s Industry Committee; Carlo Manna, ENEA; Marzio Galeotti, Professor of Economics of Environment and Energy, University of Milan; Prof. Alessandro Lanza, member of the Scientific Committee of CFS.
• 14 September 2012, Workshops on Green Economy (Maratea) on the occasion of the International Meeting “Recovering from the crisis with the Green Economy”, in collaboration with the European Democratic Party and Alleanza per l’Italia, also aimed at participation and training of young people, members and non member of political parties. It was attended by: Marco Antonini, President of Consorzio Arianne; Sergio Fabio Brivio, managing director for Energy and Sustainability at Confindustria Finco; Fabio Leoncini, CEO of Innowatio Spa; Vittorio Sangiorgio President of Coldiretti Young Enterprise; Romano Ugolini, CEO of Ecoarea Better Living; Michele Fasano, Head of Case Climatiche; Marco Giorgino, President of VedoGreen (Ir Top); Carlo Patrizio, president of the National Institute of Bio-architecture; Pasquale Spani, Deputy General Director of Banca Etica; Mario Zoccatelli, President of the Green Building Council, Italy; Edoardo Amerini, President of the National Consortium Used Suits and Accessories; Roberto De Santis, President at CONAI – National Packaging Consortium; Giulio Facchi, President of the National Consortium – Recycling Platforms; Iosu Madariaga Garamendi, head of the Department of Environment of the Government of Bizkaia, Basque region; Camillo Piazza, President of Ecocarbon; Carla Poli, CEO of Vedelago recycling center.
• April 8, 2013, Seminar on Green Jobs (Rome) dedicated to an analysis of data and a debate about the results of the research titled “Green Economy: for a new and better employment”, a study on the employment potential of the Green Economy in Italy by 2020, written – under the guidance of Alessandro Lanza and Marzio Galeotti, environmental economists and members of the CFS Scientific Committee – by researchers Federico Pontone e Nicola Cusumano. The meeting coordinated by Francesco Rutelli with the presence of members of CFS Scientific Committee, was attended by: Ermete Realacci, Honorary President of Legambiente; Fulvio Giacomassi, confederal secretary with responsibility for Sustainable Development Policies at CISL Union; Sergio Fabio Brivio, Managing Director of Energy Sustainability at Finco; Prof. Edo Ronchi, coordinator of the General Assembly of the Green Economy; Umberto Ciorba, Researcher at the technical and economic analysis and scenarios office, Central Unit Studies and Strategies (UCSTUDI-AS) at Enea; Marco Rao, Researcher at the technical and economic analysis and scenarios office, Central Unit Studies and Strategies (UCSTUDI-AS) at Enea; Anna Lambiase, CEO at Ir Top Vedo Green; Giampiero Zurlo, Partner & CEO of UtopiaLab; Prof. Claudio De Vincenti and Dr. Guido Improta, Undersecretaries of the Ministry of Economic Development; Laura Cavallo, Advisor to the Undersecretary De Vincenti, scientific advisor of the Evaluation and verification office of the Ministry of Economic Development; Marco Gonella, CEO of Med Engineering; Carolina Ardi Services, Environmental accounts, ISTAT; Marco Gisotti, journalist and author of ‘Guide to Green Jobs’; Daniele Agostini, Low Carbon Policies and Carbon Regulation at ENEL; Aldo Ravazzi, Co-Chair of the OECD Biodiversity, Water and Ecosystems Committee.
• 27th November 2013 (Bruxelles, European Parliament) a high-level international panel event on “EU 2030: Next low carbon economy targets″ organized in partnership with the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the Institute of European Democrats (IED). Speakers: Vittorio Prodi MEP (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats), Francesco Rutelli (President of Centro per un Futuro Sostenibile), Tom Greatrex MP (Labour Party spokesman on energy and climate change), Oliver Geden (Energy and climate expert from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs), Valérie Plainemaison (General Secretary of European Federation of Intelligent Energy Efficiency Services); Sergio Castellari (Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change); Marzio Galeotti (University of Milan). The event was moderated by Will Straw Associate Director for Climate Change, Energy and Transport – IPPR.
• 2th Dicember 2013 (Rome) meeting “Europe can still be a global player in the fight against climate change?”. Welcome address by Francesco Rutelli; moderated by Maurizio Melis, Radio24 journalist. Spoke, among others, Mario Pirillo, MEP, member of the Environment Committee of the EP; Cesare Pozzi, Professor of Economics, Co-Master MREF, LUISS Guido Carli; Ermete Realacci, Chairman of the Environment Committee of the Chamber of Deputies; Carlo Stagnaro, Director of the Department for Energy and Environment IBL (Istituto Bruno Leoni); Yann Wehrling, spokesman for the MoDem, and former national secretary of the party ecologist Les Verts.During the event were presented the results of the research “Stuck in the middle. Can Europe still lead on climate change and benefit from green growth? – A progress report on the 20-20-20 targets.
• 5th March 2014 (Berlin) international panel event on “Green Growth and EU Competitiveness organized by the Centre for a Sustainable Future and the Institute of European Democrats and hosted by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, during the Berlin International Economics Congress 2014 on Global Trends in Creative Economies: Green Industries, Education, Entrepreneurship and Tourism as Drivers of Sustainable Economic Growth. The roundtable discussion was focused on the new goals that Europe needs to set on Climate, Environment and Energy. The roundtable was opened with a presentation of the key findings of the CFS progress report on 20- 20-20 targets “Stuck in the middle. Can Europe still lead on climate change and benefit from green growth?” by four young researchers. Experts around the table included: Alfonso Martinez Cearra, Director General Bilbao Metropoli 30; Aldo Ravazzi, President OECD WP on Environmental Performance Country Reviews; Hon Anna Diamantopoulou, Former EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities; Alexander El Alaoui, German and EU climate policy, Germanwatch; Yann Wehrling, Spokesman MoDem and former Leader of the political party Les Verts.
• 15th April 2014 (Rome, Chamber of Deputies) conference “The new scientific evidence on climate change risks and adaptation policies in Italy”, organized by the Center for a Sustainable Future in collaboration with the Institute of European Democrats (IED). A debate for discuss on new contributions of Working Group II (Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability) and the Working Group III (Mitigation of Climate Change) of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Speakers: Gian Luca Galletti Minister of the Environment; FrancescoRutelli, President of the Center for a Sustainable Future; Carlo Carraro, Rector of the University Ca ‘Foscari of Venice, Director of International Center for Climate Governance (ICCG); Sergio Castellari, IPCC Focal Point for Italy, Head of Research Unit “Institutional Relations and Political Adaptation of Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change (CMCC); Vincenzo Artale, Director of the Technical Unit Energetic Environmental Modelling (UTMEA) ENEA; Valerio Rossi Albertini, Physicist National Research Council (CNR), Professor of Materials Science University “La Sapienza” of Rome; Andrea Valcalda, Environment Manager, Enel SpA; Ermete Realacci, President of the Chamber of Deputies Environment Committee; Giuseppe Francesco Maria Marinello, President of the Senate Environment Committee; Loredana De Petris, Senator and member of the Political Committee – Parliamentary CFS; Marzio Galeotti, University of Milan and a member of the Scientific Committee CFS; Enrico Borghi, member of Environmental Commission’s Chamber of Deputies.
New members of the Committee are Hon. Franco Bruno, Hon. Lorenzo Dellai, Hon. Flavia Nardelli and Senator Loredana De Petris.
New members of CFS Scientific Committee are Prof Riccardo Velentini, architect Mario Cucinella, Prof Cesare Pozzi and Dr. Aldo Ravazzi.