MILAN (ITALPRESS) – Energy crisis and international conflicts. It is around this binomium that the comparison between companies and institutions in Milan, at the headquarters of the Italian Representation of the European Commission at Palazzo delle Stelline, on the occasion of the presentation of the XIV edition of the Festival dell’Energia, scheduled in Lecce from 28 to 30 May 2026. Among the others, Emmanuel Conte, Councillor for Budget, Demanio and Piano Extraordinary Casa del Comune di Milano, Antonio Decaro, President Regione Puglia; Fausto Torri, Head of Energy and Utility Accenture and Pierfrancesco Maran, President Commission for the Environment, Climate and Food Safety of the European Parliament. “The international geopolitical situation today imposes a new urgent reflection on energy and sustainability issues – explained the Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala –. We must not allow the crisis to slow down the processes of ecological and energy transition and the promotion of green policies that cities like Milan and many other urban centers in Italy and Europe have started and are implementing for a long time. It is therefore important to make a common front, at national and European level, and to put on the table experiences and skills, as will happen during the Festival of Energy, in order to develop innovative solutions, indispensable to guarantee fair development and stability”. “Energy security and strategic autonomy are conditions for Europe – and its cities – to continue to be a space of freedom and well-being. Milan participates in this challenge with responsibility, even through its connection with A2A and the Festival dell’Energia is the right place for a comparison on a competitive and just transition involving cities and territories”, said Emmanuel Conte, Councillor for Budget, Demanio and Piano Extraordinary Casa del Comune di Milano. The 2026 edition of the kermesse is part of a profound change in energy, industrial and geopolitical balances, focusing on the relationship between security, competitiveness and transition. In a scenario marked by tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and the continuing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Europe is called to redefine its energy model to balance sustainability and productive stability. Precisely from these premises is born the title of the edition, “Energy and Freedom. Europe to the test of the future”, which recalls the link between strategic autonomy and economic and social holding, addressing issues ranging from renewables to storage systems, until the relaunch of the debate on nuclear. In Lecce, from 28 to 30 May, three days of meetings, debates, book presentations, exhibitions and shows will take place. After the institutional greetings of the President of the Puglia Region Antonio Decaro and the Mayor of Lecce Adriana Poli Bortone, the kermesse will open with the Minister of the Environment Gilberto Pichetto Fratin engaged in a debate on “Energy: the lever for security and independence”. The rich billboard includes, among others, an interview on “Europe to the test of the future” with the Vice President of the European Commission Raffaele Fitto and the inauguration of the National Biodiversity Future Center with the President of the CNR Andrea Lenzi. “To talk about energy or better than energy sustainability today means to tell our vision of world and future. Climate change, with increasingly extreme and dramatic consequences, imposes a broad and no longer deferable reflection on the energy models we want to develop and sustain. Apulia is a leading region on renewable sources, but this is not enough if citizens and businesses do not perceive the value of this contribution that our territory provides. This must be the challenge of the coming years, working locally and nationally to ensure that investments in energy fromrenewable sources turn into investments on the quality of the environment, respect for the territory but also on the energy sustainability of our communities”, said Antonio Decaro, President of the Puglia Region. The three slow days will also involve important figures from the world of institutions, information, industry and culture as, among others, the European Parliament Giorgio Gori; Aurelio Regina, Delegate to the Energy of Confindustria; Claudio Cerasa, director of Il Foglio; Chicco Testa, Chairman of the Committee of Honor of the Festival dell’Energia e Marta Dasù, member of the Committee of Honor of the Festival dell’Energia. In program, moreover, a dialogue between Ferruccio de Bortoli, editorialist of Corriere della Sera and member of the Committee of Honor of the Festival dell’Energia and the journalist Cecilia Sala entitled “Where the global disorder arises”; a panel on the theme “Mediterranean strategic reading: energy, corridors and climate” with Antonio Navarra, President of the Foundation “European Centre on Climate Changes” a human history” promoted in collaboration with Fondazione Banco dell’Energia, which at Castello Carlo V in Lecce will also bring the photographic exhibition of Marco Garofalo “Ritratto dienergia” The billboard with the full schedule of the days will be available online shortly. “Energy is not a theme like others: it affects the future, safety and balance between countries. How we produce and use it depend on the stability of companies, the future of industry, the environment and the quality of international relations – said Alessandro Beulcke, president of the Energy Festival –. Equity, development, environment, innovation and safety can no longer be addressed separately. It is precisely on this ground that the Festival was born almost twenty years ago and on which we will continue to open a confrontation, putting together institutions, politics, enterprises, science and media”.
– Photo f50/Italpress –
(ITALPRESS).
