Italy is positioning its long-standing scientific presence in the polar regions as a strategic asset in the Arctic, as climate, security, energy, space and geopolitics increasingly converge in the High North. A new White Paper being prepared by Italy’s scientific community is set to help shape Rome’s future polar policies ahead of the International Polar Year 2032.
Why it matters: Italy’s approach rests on an increasingly consequential premise: what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic.
- Raw materials, energy, shipping routes and space have direct implications for Europe, while the region is also becoming increasingly relevant to the EU’s security debate, including hybrid threats.
- At the same time, the Arctic remains a space where Russia and the United States continue to operate alongside one another despite wars and geopolitical tensions elsewhere, including in Ukraine and Iran.
Driving the news: More than 200 participants gathered for Italy’s first National Polar Conference, conceived and coordinated by the National Research Council (CNR) in cooperation with ENEA, INGV and OGS, and held under the patronage of the Ministries of Defence and University and Research.
- For the first time, Italy’s scientific community working across the polar regions came together to compare the latest research and data and define shared priorities and perspectives.
- The three-day conference will feed into a White Paper designed as a strategic tool to guide future Italian policies toward the Arctic, Antarctica and the so-called Third Pole — the Himalayas, Karakoram and Tibetan Plateau — regions that are becoming increasingly important for understanding global climate dynamics.
The Italian angle: Rome already has an established scientific footprint in these regions. Italy participates in projects including Boomerang, Apegaia and Epica, operates the Concordia research station together with France, and contributes to Ice Memory, which preserves ice cores from around the world and has received UNESCO recognition.
- That scientific tradition is increasingly being connected to Italy’s wider strategic approach to the Arctic.
- The government’s National Arctic Plan reflects Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s stated intention to devote greater attention to the region. The Foreign Ministry has also presented Italy’s Arctic strategy, built around four objectives: preserving the Arctic as an area of peace and cooperation, contributing to regional security, supporting Italian companies interested in investing there, and promoting scientific research.
What they’re saying: Ambassador Agostino Pinna, the Italian Foreign Ministry’s Special Envoy for the Arctic, stressed that Italy’s scientific tradition is an asset that allows the country to act as an authoritative and credible player.
- An EU Arctic strategy is also expected shortly, with a focus connected to security and hybrid threats. Developments in the Arctic, Pinna noted, can have direct repercussions for the European Union — from raw materials, space and shipping routes to energy and peace.
The science behind the strategy: “The work of these three days marks an important step towards a shared vision of Italian public research in the polar regions,” CNR President Andrea Lenzi said.
- “The CNR’s commitment to polar sciences is rooted in decades of research, data and knowledge developed within the Arctic and Antarctic Programs supported by the Ministry of University and Research. A heritage built on collaboration, dialogue with indigenous communities and the responsibility to provide solid answers to the environmental and climate challenges of the present and the future.”
The changes underway are not confined to the Arctic. “The profound changes affecting the Arctic, Antarctica and the so-called Himalayan Third Pole — the largest reserve of ice on the planet outside the polar regions — are having increasingly significant repercussions on climate balances, ecosystems and society at the global level,” ENEA President Francesca Mariotti said.
- “In this scenario, the research carried out by Italy and ENEA in the most extreme environments on Earth plays a crucial role. This type of activity requires scientific expertise, such as that which we deploy in the Arctic, but nothing would be possible without the infrastructure and logistical support that ENEA has guaranteed, with an efficient organizational machine, for more than 40 years in Antarctica.”
The big picture: Science, space and geopolitics are increasingly converging in the Arctic. For Italy, decades of polar research provide more than scientific expertise: they underpin the country’s credibility as it seeks a greater role in shaping the future of the region.
What we’re watching: The White Paper emerging from the National Polar Conference will translate the scientific community’s priorities into a reference point for future Italian policy, as Rome prepares for the International Polar Year 2032 and the EU develops its own updated Arctic strategy.
Bottom line: Italy’s Arctic presence starts with science but increasingly extends into foreign, economic and security policy. As the region becomes more closely connected to Europe’s strategic interests, Rome’s scientific legacy offers it a platform from which to turn research into influence.
