Edo Ronchi (born 31 May 1950) is an Italian 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 on 31 May 1950. He holds an electrical engineering degree from the Politecnico di Milano.
Career and activities Ronchi had a revolutionary communist political leaning. Later, he became a member of the Federation of the Greens. He joined the party in 1983 and became a member of its steering committee in 1989. He was elected to the Italian Parliament in 1983. In 1989, he was elected to the European Parliament, but resigned from office after serving in the post for just one month to concentrate on his initiative, namely Rainbow Greens, which he had cofounded with Francesco Rutelli earlier in 1989. In 1992 Ronchi became senator and was the leader of the Federation of the Greens in the Italian Senate.
He was named minister of environment on 17 May 1996 to the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Romano Prodi. Ronchi became the first member of the party who assumed a cabinet post in the country. When Ronchi was in office as environment minister Italy signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.
After serving in the post in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema on 21 December 1999, Ronchi was reappointed minister of environment in the second cabinet of D'Alema. His tenure ended in April 2000 when the cabinet resigned. 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 replaced him as minister of environment.
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 the green movement.
Electoral history ElectionHouseConstituencyPartyVotesResult 1983 Chamber of Deputies Brescia–Bergamo DP 1,889 Elected 1987 Chamber of Deputies Brescia–Bergamo DP 2,482 Elected 1992 Chamber of Deputies Como–Sondrio–Varese FdV 2,027 Elected 1994 Senate of the Republic Piedmont – Turin 3 FdV 52,671 Elected 1996 Senate of the Republic Piedmont – Turin 3 FdV 69,874 Elected 2006 Senate of the Republic Veneto DS – Elected
Source:
References
External links