On June 17, 2021, Minister Maria Cristina Messa and CNR President Maria Chiara Carrozza accompanied by Director of CNR-IRET and Focal Point ICOS Italia Carlo Calfapietra and the Director of the Capodimonte Museum Sylvain Bellenger visited the ICOS Research Infrastructure at the Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples.

In 2014, thanks to the PONa3_00363 project, the National Research Council (CNR) installed an up to date measuring station with the aim of measuring the exchange capacity of carbon dioxide, trace gases and atmospheric pollutants between the urban forest and the atmosphere. Since 2014, the station has been part of the ESFRI ICOS infrastructure (www.icos-cp.eu). It measures flows and stocks of carbon in the atmosphere, ecosystems and sea. This infrastructure is considered to be crucial in the context of the Carbon Neutrality priority of the European Green Deal and the Italian PNRR.

The station is part of a very limited group of stations in the world for the monitoring of the quantity of trace gas and it is, at the moment, the only one implemented within an urban green area such as that of the “Real Bosco di Capodimonte” district, in the municipality of Naples.

The station is being upgraded with the Pro_ICOSMed Infrastructure upgrade project with a total funding of approximately € 15M, € 3M of which for the Capodimonte station.

Minister Messa, President Carrozza and Dr. Calfapietra committed to meet again in November for the ICOS event following COP 26 (this year under the joint Italian-English presidency) in which the Minister for Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani should also participate. The event will focus on the contribution of IR ICOS to negotiations on climate change and national strategies for Carbon Neutrality.