Edo Ronchi (born 31 May 1950) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

engineer and politician. He served as minister of environment and protection of land and sea from 1996 to 2000 in three different cabinets. He was the first Green politician to hold a cabinet post in Italy.

Early life and education

Ronchi was born in

Treviglio Treviglio (, Bergamasque: ) is a town and ''comune'' (i.e. municipality) in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Northern Italy. It lies south of the province capital, in the lower territory called "Bassa Bergamasca". It's also part of the geog ...

on 31 May 1950. He holds an electrical engineering degree from the

Politecnico di Milano The Polytechnic University of Milan () is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design. Founded in 186 ...

Career and activities

Ronchi had a revolutionary communist political leaning. Later he became a member of the

Federation of the Greens The Federation of the Greens ( it, Federazione dei Verdi, FdV), frequently referred to as Greens (''Verdi''), was a green political party in Italy. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the Federation of Green Lists and the Rainbow Greens. T ...

. He joined the party in 1983 and became a member of its steering committee in 1989. He was elected to the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitiona ...

in 1983. In 1989 he was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, but resigned from office after serving in the post just for one month to concentrate on his initiative, namely Rainbow Greens, which he had cofounded with

Francesco Rutelli Francesco Rutelli (born 14 June 1954) is an Italian journalist and former politician, who is the president of '' Anica'', National Association of Film and Audiovisual Industry, since October 2016. He also chairs the "Centro per un Futuro Sosteni ...

earlier in 1989. In 1992 Ronchi became senator and was the leader of the Federation of the Greens in the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic ( it, Senato della Repubblica), or simply the Senate ( it, Senato), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Chamber of Deputies). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral sy ...

. He was named minister of environment on 17 May 1996 to the cabinet headed by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Prim ...

. Ronchi became the first member of the party who assumed a cabinet post in the country. After serving in the post in the first cabinet of Prime Minister

Massimo D'Alema Massimo D'Alema (; born 20 April 1949) is an Italian politician and journalist who was the 53rd prime minister of Italy from 1998 to 2000. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. D'Alema also serv ...

on 21 December 1999 Ronchi was reappointed minister of environment to the second cabinet of D'Alema. His tenure ended on 19 April 2000 when the cabinet resigned, and

Giuliano Amato Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Later, he was Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted t ...

formed the cabinet. Ronchi was offered by Prime Minister Amato the post of minister of European affairs, but he did not accept the post due to his intention of serving as minister of environment. However, Ronchi's proposal was not endorsed, and

Willer Bordon Willer Bordon (16 January 1949 – 14 July 2015) was an Italian academic, businessman and politician who served in different cabinet posts at the end of the 1990s and 2000s. Early life Bordon was born in Muggia, Province of Trieste, on 16 Januar ...

replaced him as minister of environment. When Ronchi was in office as environment minister Italy signed the

Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part ...

in 1997. After leaving public office, Ronchi began to work at the Sustainable Development Foundation, and as of 2013 he was on the national advisory board of Ecomondo, an initiative for green movement.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ronchi, Edo 20th-century Italian engineers 21st-century Italian engineers 1950 births Democrats of the Left politicians Democratic Party (Italy) politicians Deputies of Legislature IX of Italy Deputies of Legislature X of Italy Deputies of Legislature XI of Italy Federation of the Greens MEPs Federation of the Greens politicians Living people People from Treviglio Politicians of Lombardy Polytechnic University of Milan alumni Proletarian Democracy politicians Rainbow Greens politicians Senators of Legislature XII of Italy Senators of Legislature XIII of Italy Senators of Legislature XV of Italy Italian electrical engineers Environment ministers of Italy