ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND SOBRIETY: LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE ITALIAN EXPERIENCES OF L' AQUILA RUGBY ASSOCIATION AND COMMUNITY COOPERATIVE MELPIGNANO

Abstract

n the EU's perspective, energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways to reduce energy consumption and contribute to the fight against climate change. Recent studies have shown that energy efficiency alone is not sufficient to achieve sustainable development goals. The real challenge is to combine energy efficiency with energy sobriety. This work aims at raising a debate about the relationship between energy efficiency and energy sobriety and at studying how the principle of sobriety works. In particular, the objective of this paper is to investigate how the principle of sobriety is expressed in the acts of private autonomy and to show how civil law relationships, inspired by the principle of energy sobriety and thus subject to a positive �control of merit�, can contribute to a bottom-up, just and inclusive energy transition and to adaptation to climate change, in accordance with the objectives of the European Green Deal, the EU Adaptation Strategy and, more generally, the UN 2030 Agenda (Goals 7, 11, 13). This paper uses legal institutes and arguments of "civil law and constitutional legality" applied to energy and links them to real-life experiences with a normative approach. The work also has to be considered as the outcome of an empirical analysis of two case studies: L'Aquila Rugby Association, Centre Italy; Cooperativa di Comunita in Melpignano, Southern Italy.