Premier Mario Draghi said Thursday that he agreed with young people demanding world leaders take immediate action to combat the climate crisis.
"The young people are right," Draghi said as he opened the Pre-COP meeting at the Milan Conference Centre, MiCO.
"The ecological transition is not a choice, it is a necessity.
"Acting later would mean having to pay the much higher price of a climate disaster".
Draghi, who was briefly interrupted by protestors during his speech, said that the NRRP Recovery Plan, which is being financed by almost 200 billion euros in EU funds, would enable Italy to invest more in renewables and in protecting biodiversity.
Early on Thursday Draghi met young activists Greta Thunberg of Sweden, Uganda's Vanessa Nakate and Italy's Martina Comparelli, who are taking part in the Youth4Climate conference, at the offices of the Milan prefect.
Draghi said that the meeting went "really well".
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