bordon was the mayor of muggia for eleven years. in 1987, he was elected to the italian parliament, being a deputy for trieste. he founded democratic alliance, a small centre-left party, in 1992. he resigned from the party in june 1994 following the poor achievement in the general election. later he joined the margherita party. from 1998 to 1999 he served as the minister for public works. he was appointed minister of environment to the cabinet led by prime minister giuliano amato in april 2000. bordon replaced edo ronchi as minister of environment.