Drought policy in Italy 2022. Critical Analysis through the lens of Agenda setting.

Drought policy in Italy 2022. Critical Analysis through the Lens of Agenda Setting Name Course Institution Date Introduction Italy faced a monumental moment in 2022 when it experienced one of the worst droughts characterized by high heat waves and low rainfall. The occurrence of this drought triggered intense social and economic impacts (Colombo et al., 2023). The agricultural sector was among the most hit by the drought. Also, the impacts of the drought raised questions about the nation’s water management and environmental sustainability (Fattorini, 2024). Predictably, it also stimulated debates on the policy front with the objectives geared towards addressing the drought both in the short-term and in the long-term. This essay deploys the Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) alongside Hajer’s Discourse Coalitions framework to explore the response that the Italian government accorded to the 2022 drought. The MSA is an analytical framework that outlines how the issue of drought was turned into a tool for agenda-setting in the political arena while the discourse coalition framework showcases how the problem of the drought was framed in the lenses of different actors (Malm & Carton, 2024). A better understanding of how the Italian government responded to the 2022 drought through policy is anchored on analyzing the political and environmental landscapes of the issue while also detailing the roles of policy and political entrepreneurs in fuelling the outcomes of the drought. Background The Political and Environmental Situation Italy has experienced a significant change in its climate since the turn of the millennium. However, the drought of 2022 marked the peak of such changes. That is according to the temperature data validated by Ispra and also the estimates provided at the beginning of the year by ISAC-CNR (Ledda et al., 2024). The findings indicate that the thermal anomaly in 2022 reached +1.23°C compared to the 1990-2020 average (for the CNR the figure is +1.15°C). Further, it is noted that 2022 was the least rainy since 1961, beating even 2001 and 2017 (Cuevas-Wizner et al., 2024). The average annual rainfall value marked -22% compared to the last 30 years. Also, the January and July figures rose to -39%. Further, the regional differences in 2022 were significant, especially with the North remaining much drier (-33%) than the Centre (-15%) and the South (-13%) of Italy (rinnovabili.it, 2023). Put simply, Northern Italy was the most affected region by the droughts. Regions such as Veneto and Lombardy were affected thereby experiencing a water crisis accompanied by endangered industrial and agricultural activities (Fattorini, 2024). The drought also bore some political and environmental impacts in the context of Italy. Politically, regions in which Matteo Salvini holds a large political sway through his party, the Northern League, were some of the most affected by the droughts (Pizzo, 2023). The political attachment to the drought fuelled its significance as various leaders expressly demanded immediate interventions on the issue (Puchi et al., 2024). Significant among such leaders was the governor of Veneto, Luca Zaia who was among the Northern League leaders in the affected region to demand emergency measures to tame the impacts of the drought (Cuevas-Wizner et al., 2024). Eventually, the government issued a decree that was poised to stimulate a structured response to the challenge that the nation was facing at the time (Pizzo, 2023). Immediately, the Draghi government reacted by introducing legislation through the EU's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The succeeding Meloni government continued the agenda when it passed Drought Policy No. 39 in 2023 (Gandiglio. & Marocco, 2024). Focusing Event Although it is not possible to directly attribute climate change to a single weather event (Grose & Hope, 2019) the hydrological drought in Northern Italy in 2022 was, in large part, the consequence of a snow drought in the Italian Alps in the winter of 2021/22 and the resulting deficit of meltwater runoff (Koehler et al. 2022). The snow deficit, in combination with reduced summer precipitation, triggered temperature increases thereby leading to the drought (Alba et al., 2024). Also, the problem was seen as natural disaster but triggered by the climate change in part due to humans. Alba et al. (2024) found that the causal stories used by the relevant actors in this case were the Accidental Cause (nature and weather) and inadvertent cause due to neglect, carelessness and omission. For example, because the water distribution system in Italy is obsolete, water waste over 30-40% vs other EU member states with 5-8 % of waste. Problem Framing The 2022 drought in Italy was a focusing event that triggered a range of spiraling outcomes. Superficially, this crisis which was majorly environmental and water-based was quickly transformed into a political agenda. As defined by Kingdom (1995), a focusing event attracts the attention of the public. Such a focusing event sets a platform in which policies are changed to match the prevalent needs (Quarles, 2021). Various frameworks can be deployed to frame the problem. Stone's typology (1989) as well as Rochefort and Cobb's (1994) theory of problem definition can be deployed collectively to frame this problem. Stone's typology (1989) is rigid and focuses only on four goals that include equity, efficiency, security, and liberty for policymaking. Conversely, Rochefort and Cobb's (1994) theory of problem emphasizes only the avenues of shaping the policy agenda with limited emphasis to the social, political, and economic occurrences surrounding a crisis. Hence, for an expansive understanding of the issue, the frameworks outline the problem through the lenses of various authorities that acted in response to the drought: containers and expanders (Bandh & Malla, 2024). Containers are the stakeholders who felt the immediate impacts of the challenge. In this case, the local authorities and the agricultural sector were the containers. Immediately the nation was hit by the severe droughts, the containers experienced an immediate reduction in water supplies as well as crop yields (Gioia, 2024). The immediate reaction of the containers was to advocate for emergency measures to support the failing industries (Cembalo et al., 2021). The containers called for the government to support the farmers financially besides demanding water allocation to save the crops. The focus of the containers differed from that of the expanders. Expanders are the actors who focus on broadening the scope of the problem. To the expanders, focusing on the long-term and systemic causes and consequences of a problem gives a sustainable strategy for addressing that problem (Maranzano et al., 2021). Often, it is the expanders who broaden the issue to include the public while also shifting the agenda into a more political orientation (Toreti et al., 2022). To expanders, crises are accompanied by prospects like governance reforms, implementation of environmental sustainability policies, or an exploration of social justice. In this case, the expanders are the policymakers and the environmental groups such as Legambiente that demanded sustainable and long-term approaches to the problem (Ledda et al., 2023). Government Response and Policy Analysis Using MSA The Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) The Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) is a vital program that helps to understand crises and how they attract agenda-setting. In this case, MSA helps to outline how the drought transformed to become a priority agenda in the political platform (Mallach, 2023). The proponents of MSA argue that three streams must converge to trigger a significant policy change. The three prospects including problem, policy, and politics trigger changes following problems or crises (Robert et al., 2024). The three streams were evident through different lenses in the 2022 drought (Avanzi et al., 2024). The problem stream was marked by the occurrence of a drought and its impacts. Water shortage and the inability of various ind...