Edo Ronchi


Edo Ronchi 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 just for 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.
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 to the second cabinet of D'Alema. His tenure ended on 19 April 2000 when the D'Alema cabinet resigned and Giuliano Amato 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 replaced him as minister of environment. When Ronchi was in office as environment minister Italy signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.
After leaving public office, Ronchi began to work at the Sustainable Development Foundation and is on the national advisory board of Ecomondo, an initiative for green movement.