At Ecomondo in Rimini on 4 and 5 November 2025, the 14th edition of the Green Economy General Assembly will convene institutions, businesses and stakeholders to address pathways toward a decarbonised, circular economy capable of restoring natural capital. The annual forum is promoted by the National Council for the Green Economy and the Foundation for Sustainable Development, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, and is sponsored by the European Commission and the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy. The opening session on 4 November will present the Report on the State of the Green Economy 2025. In addition to updated data on strategic topics for Italy, the report will examine the state and prospects of the European ecological transition within a changing international scenario marked by a policy reversal on climate and the environment in the United States and the strong development of green production and exports in China. Positioned as a reference event for the protagonists of tomorrow’s economy, the assembly will focus on evidence and policy options for accelerating decarbonisation while safeguarding competitiveness.
“A recent Eurobarometer survey, in line with other surveys, found that as many as 85% of European citizens believe that climate change is an important issue and that 77% believe that the damage it causes outweighs the investments needed for decarbonisation,” notes Edo Ronchi, President of the Sustainable Development Foundation, who will present the introductory report. “Given these levels of consensus, why is there an eco-sceptical offensive in Europe? A large survey published in The Guardian documents that the large majority in favour of combating the climate crisis remains a ‘silent majority’ because they believe that other people are not equally concerned and therefore feel like a minority.”
The European Union, the United States and China: between brakes and accelerators
The United States is the world’s largest oil producer, the world’s largest gas exporter and a major consumer of fossil fuels. Gas consumption in the United States has grown from 678 billion cubic metres in 2010 to 940 billion cubic metres in 2023, three times that of the European Union, which has 111 million more inhabitants. According to the organisers, President Trump’s reversal on climate measures, supported by substantial American fossil fuel interests, has fragile foundations because the climate crisis is not a matter of opinion and also affects the US, and because it exposes the American economy to the additional costs of a race that will be necessary to make up for the delays generated today.
China, despite still being the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, accounts for over 40% of global installed wind and solar photovoltaic capacity, produces more than half of the electric cars on the world market today and over 80% of solar photovoltaic modules and electric vehicle battery cells. China’s rapidly growing exports to Europe can, on the one hand, give European citizens and businesses access to good quality products at affordable prices and, on the other, put European production in difficulty thanks to substantial Chinese state aid and less effective environmental standards, which still allow, for example, the massive use of coal to produce electricity.
Europe, which is particularly exposed and vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis and imports large quantities of expensive oil and gas, has a strategic interest in decarbonisation and has achieved significant results. Between 1990 and 2023 it reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 37% and in 2024 it generated 47.4% of its electricity from renewables. In June 2025, renewables exceeded 50% of European electricity production. The year 2024, in particular, marked a new record for annual growth in solar electricity production in the EU, up 22% on 2023, bringing total photovoltaic production to 300 TWh.
