Italy plans to channel billions of euros from its climate fund into a development programme for Africa that observers fear could promote fossil fuels and “false solutions” to global warming.
At a summit in Rome with two dozen African and European leaders on Monday, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni unveiled a long-awaited initiative aimed at boosting economic ties and curbing migration.
The transformation of Italy into “an energy hub” that creates “a bridge between Europe and Africa” is a central plank of the ‘Mattei Plan’ – named after Enrico Mattei, founder of state oil and gas company Eni.
Meloni said initial resources for the scheme would total 5.5 billion euros ($5.95 billion), including loans, guarantees and grants. Over half of the budget would come from a climate fund set up in 2022 to finance international projects in line with the Paris Agreement, she added.
Widespread concerns
Campaigners in Italy and across Africa have expressed concerns over the initiative.
Silvia Francescon, from Italian think tank Ecco, told Climate Home that the plan presents “enormous ambiguities” that leave the door open to fossil fuel investment.
A document released by the Italian government indicated the initiative would strengthen the use of renewables and “accelerate the transition of electricity systems”, but did not explicitly rule out oil and gas projects.
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“There is no reference to the Paris Agreement or the Cop decisions. Based on what we currently know, there is undoubtedly a risk that funds meant for climate and international development could be used for projects managed by companies like Eni”, she added. “The ambiguity is very worrying”.
Eni’s long shadow
Eni has extensive oil and gas operations across a dozen African countries, including Nigeria, Mozambique, Ivory Coast and the Republic of Congo.
Its CEO Claudio Descalzi attended the launch of the Mattei Plan in the Italian Senate alongside executives of other state-controlled companies.
At a political event organised by Meloni’s right-wing populist party last December, he said Italy was “ready to invest in Africa both to get the energy needed for economic growth but also to tackle migration flows”.
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Concerns over Eni’s looming presence over the initiative have been widespread ever since Meloni named the plan after the company’s founder.
Enrico Mattei led the company’s quest in the mid-20th century to capture a significant share of the fast-expanding market.
His willingness to give oil-producing states a larger share of the profits than its American and British rivals is widely credited as a key reason behind Eni’s success at the time. Mattei died in 1962 in a plane crash caused by a suspected sabotage.
Mutual benefits
Meloni hailed Mattei as an inspiration for her plan that, she said, would be “a cooperation among equals” and “non-predatory”.
But African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told the summit that African countries would have liked to have been consulted beforehand.
“We need to pass from words to deeds,” he said, striking a cautious note. “You can understand that we cannot be happy with promises that often are not maintained.”
The Italian government has put energy at the centre of the partnership but details of which energy sources will be included have been very limited.
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Italy signed several gas deals with African countries over the last two years as it sought to replace Russian supplies. But gas was the “elephant in the room” at the summit, as Kenyan president William Ruto described it in his address.
Ruto said he believed “that no African country can be asked to halt the exploration of its natural resources, including fossil fuels”. But “that does not mean that it makes economic sense to build a dependency on fossil fuels in our economies”, he added, calling gas “a temporary solution, primarily for export”.
‘False solutions’
Among a limited number of “pilot projects” referenced in Meloni’s speech is a biofuel production operation launched by Eni in Kenya in 2021.
Supporters of biofuels see them as an important contributor to the energy transition away from fossil fuels. But critics argue they can do more harm than good by diverting land away from food production, destroying forests, worsening water scarcity and unleashing significant amounts of emissions across their supply chains.
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Dean Bhebhe, campaigns lead at Power Shift Africa, called Meloni’s focus “very problematic”. “Africa has an enormous amount of solar and wind – genuine renewable energy sources – and instead she chooses a false solution like biofuels”, he told Climate Home.
Concerns have also been raised over the lack of engagement with civil society representatives that were not invited to the summit. Ahead of the event, over 50 African groups wrote a letter to the Italian government asking for an “end of neo-colonial approaches” and “a more consultative approach”.
“Currently the Mattei plan does not offer Africa a path to escape the systematic traps that prevent its development”, said Bhebhe. “We need plans that rebalance Africa’s position globally in truly innovative ways, not convenings that keep it at the bottom of the food chain”.
The post Italy launches ‘ambiguous’ Africa plan fuelling fears over fossil fuels role appeared first on Climate Home News.
Italy launches ‘ambiguous’ Africa plan fuelling fears over fossil fuels role
Climate Change
Greenpeace organisations to appeal USD $345 million court judgment in Energy Transfer’s intimidation lawsuit
SYDNEY, Saturday 28 February 2026 — Greenpeace International and Greenpeace organisations in the US announce they will seek a new trial and, if necessary, appeal the decision with the North Dakota Supreme Court following a North Dakota District Court judgment today awarding Energy Transfer (ET) USD $345 million.
ET’s SLAPP suit remains a blatant attempt to silence free speech, erase Indigenous leadership of the Standing Rock movement, and punish solidarity with peaceful resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Greenpeace International will also continue to seek damages for ET’s bullying lawsuits under EU anti-SLAPP legislation in the Netherlands.
Mads Christensen, Greenpeace International Executive Director said: “Energy Transfer’s attempts to silence us are failing. Greenpeace International will continue to resist intimidation tactics. We will not be silenced. We will only get louder, joining our voices to those of our allies all around the world against the corporate polluters and billionaire oligarchs who prioritise profits over people and the planet.
“With hard-won freedoms under threat and the climate crisis accelerating, the stakes of this legal fight couldn’t be higher. Through appeals in the US and Greenpeace International’s groundbreaking anti-SLAPP case in the Netherlands, we are exploring every option to hold Energy Transfer accountable for multiple abusive lawsuits and show all power-hungry bullies that their attacks will only result in a stronger people-powered movement.”
The Court’s final judgment today rejects some of the jury verdict delivered in March 2025, but still awards hundreds of millions of dollars to ET without a sound basis in law. The Greenpeace defendants will continue to press their arguments that the US Constitution does not allow liability here, that ET did not present evidence to support its claims, that the Court admitted inflammatory and irrelevant evidence at trial and excluded other evidence supporting the defense, and that the jury pool in Mandan could not be impartial.[1][2]
ET’s back-to-back lawsuits against Greenpeace International and the US organisations Greenpeace USA (Greenpeace Inc.) and Greenpeace Fund are clear-cut examples of SLAPPs — lawsuits attempting to bury nonprofits and activists in legal fees, push them towards bankruptcy and ultimately silence dissent.[3] Greenpeace International, which is based in the Netherlands, is pursuing justice in Europe, with a suit against ET under Dutch law and the European Union’s new anti-SLAPP directive, a landmark test of the new legislation which could help set a powerful precedent against corporate bullying.[4]
Kate Smolski, Program Director at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “This is part of a worrying trend globally: fossil fuel corporations are increasingly using litigation to attack and silence ordinary people and groups using the law to challenge their polluting operations — and we’re not immune to these tactics here in Australia.
“Rulings like this have a chilling effect on democracy and public interest litigation — we must unite against these silencing tactics as bad for Australians and bad for our democracy. Our movement is stronger than any corporate bully, and grows even stronger when under attack.”
Energy Transfer’s SLAPPs are part of a wave of abusive lawsuits filed by Big Oil companies like Shell, Total, and ENI against Greenpeace entities in recent years.[3] A couple of these cases have been successfully stopped in their tracks. This includes Greenpeace France successfully defeating TotalEnergies’ SLAPP on 28 March 2024, and Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace International forcing Shell to back down from its SLAPP on 10 December 2024.
-ENDS-
Images available in Greenpeace Media Library
Notes:
[1] The judgment entered by North Dakota District Court Judge Gion follows a jury verdict finding Greenpeace entities liable for more than US$660 million on March 19, 2025. Judge Gion subsequently threw out several items from the jury’s verdict, reducing the total damages to approximately US$345 million.
[2] Public statements from the independent Trial Monitoring Committee
[3] Energy Transfer’s first lawsuit was filed in federal court in 2017 under the RICO Act – the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a US federal statute designed to prosecute mob activity. The case was dismissed in 2019, with the judge stating the evidence fell “far short” of what was needed to establish a RICO enterprise. The federal court did not decide on Energy Transfer’s claims based on state law, so Energy Transfer promptly filed a new case in a North Dakota state court with these and other state law claims.
[4] Greenpeace International sent a Notice of Liability to Energy Transfer on 23 July 2024, informing the pipeline giant of Greenpeace International’s intention to bring an anti-SLAPP lawsuit against the company in a Dutch Court. After Energy Transfer declined to accept liability on multiple occasions (September 2024, December 2024), Greenpeace International initiated the first test of the European Union’s anti-SLAPP Directive on 11 February 2025 by filing a lawsuit in Dutch court against Energy Transfer. The case was officially registered in the docket of the Court of Amsterdam on 2 July, 2025. Greenpeace International seeks to recover all damages and costs it has suffered as a result of Energy Transfers’s back-to-back, abusive lawsuits demanding hundreds of millions of dollars from Greenpeace International and the Greenpeace organisations in the US. The next hearing in the Court of Amsterdam is scheduled for 16 April, 2026.
Media contact:
Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org
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Climate Change
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Cheniere Energy, the largest producer and exporter of U.S. liquefied natural gas, received $370 million from the IRS in the first quarter of 2026, a payout that shipping experts, tax specialists and a U.S. senator say the company never should have received.
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