Since 1947, Article 32 of the Italian Constitution1 has declared that the Republic protects health as a fundamental right of the individual and a public interest. In 2022, amendments were made to Articles 9 and 41 regarding the protection of health and the environment, incorporating the principles of environmental protection and sustainable development, “also in the interest of future generations2.” We therefore deemed it imperative to apply our expertise to ensure that human activities are carried out with respect for the environment, protecting the essential balance of the ecosystem that surrounds us. In July 2022, in a philanthropic act, several companies broke the deadlock and decided to establish the #Ecologja Business Network.
The Network is open to collaboration with companies and institutions that wish to contribute through their actions to safeguarding environmental health. This program, based on Applied Research, aims to provide a Service of Excellence in Scientific Consultancy, pursuing the goal of safeguarding the concept of “Global Environmental Health – One Earth – One Health.3” Finally, it provides regulatory guidance for legislative updates where necessary, considering that Environmental Law4 has assumed an increasingly central role at the national, European, and global levels, becoming an area of great interest for legal studies. It is characterized by a plurality of regulatory sources, often technical and complex, which can generate conflicts between regulations. These conflicts are resolved through shared fundamental principles, such as sustainable development, prevention, precaution, the “polluter pays” principle, the DNSH (do no significant harm to the environment), and the non-regression of environmental protection. These principles have been developed since the 1970s and have been consolidated in the European treaties and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In Italy, these guidelines are incorporated into Legislative Decree 152/2006 (Environmental Code), which reorganises the entire subject matter.