🇮🇹 Italy gets its own CDR association - but does it need it?

😍 On Tuesday, the Rete Italiana Rimozione Carbonio (RIRC) was launched amidst the beautiful 600 years old frescoes of the Scuole della Carita in Padova.

🙋🏻 If you follow me, you know I love a CDR association. So much so, that I’ve personally founded my fair share in the CDR space and currently sit on numerous boards spanning geographies and technologies.

🤔 So do we really need another one? Is this leading to association overload and fragmentation for an already small sector?

☝️ Instead of writing about the wonderful people I met in Padova, the stunning venue, or the delicious food we had (all of which are true), I wanted to share why I believe this is an incredibly important step.

In my experience, the Rete Italiana Rimozione Carbonio (RIRC) is needed to accomplish three crucial objectives:

1️⃣ COMMUNITY: they provide a platform, a home for everyone working on or interested in CDR in Italy. Without community there is no ecosystem.

2️⃣ KNOWLEDGE: in most countries - including Italy - the rate limiting factor today is simply access to information. Most people have no idea what CDR is or why it is needed. A centralised distributor of this info is essential.

3️⃣ ADVOCACY: it is really hard for a single company to be heard or speak on behalf of an entire ecosystem in front of policy makers, who tend to prefer having one point person who can represent a whole industry.

📣 A final point: context really matters: Italian CDR needs Italian voices. Simple as that. Rome is not Brussels or Washington D.C. Language (yes, including our famous body language) and customs matter.

💙 And for all these reasons, I am thrilled the Rete Italiana Rimozione Carbonio (RIRC) was born.

📩 If you are Italian and interested in CDR, join this movement now. Make sure to sign up to follow it on LinkedIn and subscribe to its newsletter.

👀 Also watch out for the launch of Carbon Gap’s Readiness Assessment Report for Italy next Monday, as well as a special CDR Policy Scoop episode on Italy which will air soon.

👏 A special shout-out to the four passionate, dedicated Italians who spearheaded the RIRC: Chiara D'Adamo’adamo, Riccardo Ambrosini, Martina Massei, and Francesco Gagliano.

🤗 Benvenuta, RIRC. Ne avevamo bisogno.

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