A-Infos (en) Itay, Anarres Info: THE TRAGIC COMEDY OF THE G7 IN VENARIA (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The G7 summit on environment and energy took place in the setting of the 
Savoy palace of Venaria. ---- Venaria is a town in the Turin hinterland: 
around a historic center that was born as a collar of the palace, there 
is the classic suburban suburb that presses on the ring road, for a long 
stretch dangerously crossed by high voltage pylons definitely too close 
to the houses. Here in 2010 there was one of the most interesting 
moments of the No Tav struggle between the capital and the belt: a drill 
was blocked for almost 24 hours by comrades who, that time, managed to 
beat the company and the police.
Today no one talks about the Turin section of the TAV anymore, but in 
the valley the construction sites are now open and others are about to 
open. You can never say that a game is lost as long as you continue to 
play, but it is undeniable that there is great difficulty.
The Palace, reopened in 2007 after a long restoration, has become a 
tourist attraction, which governments occasionally use for meetings 
between powerful people. Perhaps they delude themselves into competing 
with Versailles. And, if you think about it, as a place of pleasure, 
celebration and comedy, it is entirely suitable.
The summit predictably concluded with high-sounding commitments on 
environmental protection, the reduction of emissions and an 
ever-increasing push towards renewables.
It's a shame that everything was limited to declarations that were as 
well packaged as they were useless.
The G7 have committed to announcing a reduction plan (not the reduction 
but just the plan) in advance of COP 30 in Brazil in 2025. They have 
also declared that they want to reduce coal-fired electricity production 
by 2035 Only 4.9% of the electricity used in Italy comes from coal-fired 
power plants but Pichetto Frantin has obviously placed enormous emphasis 
by announcing the closure of 3 of the 4 coal-fired power plants in our 
country.
Nuclear power predictably appears in response to decarbonization. The G7 
are focusing on small power plants, which have the same danger and the 
same waste as large ones but produce less and therefore need more. Some 
chatter was spent on the transition from fission to fusion, while 
admitting, between the lines, that this is a technology that is far from 
being applicable.
The G7 reiterated the promises made in Dubai to reduce the use of fossil 
fuels by increasing investments in renewables.
These statements are contradicted by the facts. Let's limit ourselves to 
Italy.
The Italian government has control of ENI, which just over a month ago 
declared that until 2027 it would focus on increasing fossil fuels, 
because renewables cost too much and yield little. For every euro that 
ENI invests in gas and oil, only 7 cents are spent on renewables.
In January the Meloni government announced the financing of military 
missions abroad, from which the objective of defending ENI plants in 
Africa and the Mediterranean emerges unequivocally.
The G7 is just a parade of powerful people who celebrate themselves, 
while their Sherpas perfect the declarations to feed to the media who 
will slavishly spread them.

Unmasking this comedy, a comedy that however hides the tragic reality of 
a planet where the powerful dance and feast at the top while the poor 
drown or burn below, is important.
On the occasion of this G7 environmentalist, trade union, political and 
anti-militarist networks attempted to make the farce transparent by 
actively contesting the summit.

In march against the G7, the war, the destruction of the planet
Heavy rain welcomed the powerful people who arrived in Venaria on 28 
April for the G7 environment and energy meeting in the former Savoy 
palace, which was armored and closed to visitors for days. Mandatory 
holidays were imposed on employees and workers of contracting companies.
The rains of this cold spring follow a warm and dry winter, another sign 
that, now even in our latitudes, climate change is a tangible fact.
Against climate policies, war and capitalist logic, over three hundred 
people participated in the procession launched by a broad front of 
environmentalist associations and those opposed to climate change. Also 
present in various parts of the procession were the No Tav flags and the 
Murga who participated with their own performing actions.
The segment of the anti-militarist assembly, paraded at the end of the 
procession, welcomed the support of the committee that is fighting 
against the nuclear landfill in the province of Alessandria and of the 
one that has been fighting for decades against the consequences of the 
environmental disaster caused by Acna in the Valley Bormida.

The demonstration headed towards the entrance to the ring road which was 
symbolically blocked for about ten minutes, then moved towards the 
centre. The entrance to the pedestrian avenue leading to the Palace was 
closed by iron grates and armored police vehicles: there large pieces of 
cardboard with the images of the seven heads of government of the G7 
were set on fire. The procession then continued along Viale Buridani, 
skirting the red zone: all access roads were closed by an imposing 
military apparatus.
The Antimilitarist Assembly underlined the close interconnection between 
military missions abroad and the interests of ENI. The bases of wars are 
a stone's throw from our homes. Opposition to war, in the name of a 
world without borders, without states, without armies, passes through 
the defeatism that everyone operates against their own government, 
against companies like ENI and Leonardo, against Italy's neocolonial 
military operations. The anti-militarist struggle materializes in active 
solidarity with those who, everywhere, desert the war and fight against 
all nationalism.

Charges against students and actions of Extinction Rebellion
On Monday 29 April a procession of about a hundred middle school and 
university students tried to move towards Piazza Carlina where one of 
the hotels is located, which hosted the G7 delegations.
The police intervened by repeatedly charging the procession to prevent 
it from approaching the square. In addition to the beating of 
truncheons, water cannons and tear gas were used. One of these hit a boy 
in the face, breaking his nose.
Previously, the activists of Extinction Rebellion, already protagonists 
in the previous days of various actions against the G7 such as a protest 
against RAI and the occupation of the Intesa-San Paolo skyscraper, 
managed, in defiance of the very strict surveillance, to gain the roof 
of of the biology faculty in Piazza Carlina, in front of the G7 hotel, 
and they resisted for several hours.
The police dragged some activists who were filming from the square. The 
firefighters climbed onto the roof and tore down the banner but only at 
9pm did the people on the roof decide to come down.

The road ahead to block the climatic and warmongering policies of the G7 
is definitely still uphill.
The initiatives implemented from 28 to 30 April gave a small signal. It 
will be important, in the coming months, to be able to gather a broader 
front to be able to throw sand into the gears of a machine that is 
racing at breakneck speed towards destruction.

https://www.anarresinfo.org/la-tragica-commedia-dei-g7-a-venaria/
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