Enhanced efforts should be made to stop the take-up of the remaining green spaces in Malta by more buildings and protect the country’s greenery,  children and teens told a climate change conference on Thursday. 

The conference, organised by Opposition spokesperson for climate change Eve Borg Bonello and presided by Speaker Anġlu Farrugia, saw the participation of activists and stakeholders in the environmental sector but it was the youths who captivated the chamber in their steadfast insistence that leaders must take action on climate change now and treat it like the emergency that it is. 

The children spoke about a variety of issues, from rising sea levels to global warming and the blight of plastic, noting that despite these being well-known for years, little progress in tackling them had been achieved. 

“My generation isn’t the one that created these problems but it is the one that will have to face the consequences for it,” said 16-year-old Nina Briffa. 

She said that instead of planting more trees, what remained were being chopped, instead of preserving unbuilt spaces, every empty corner was being filled with concrete, and instead of investing in green energy, the country was using fossil fuels to generate power. 

“We are angry, and not just because we are expected to fight for our futures but also because the highest authorities in our country continue to make it worse,” she said. 

“And then we wonder why 70% of Maltese youth want to leave the country.” 

‘We’re living in a broken world’

An impassioned Andre Micallef, 16, told the conference that as an outdoors enthusiast, he could see first-hand how the environment had been destroyed. 

“We as children have nowhere to go to enjoy nature, everywhere is full of plastic. This is no longer our world, it is a broken world,” he said. 

“We are focusing too much on individuals and not the actions of corporations in this area. It is crucial that we see more grants for startups to usher in newer and cleaner technologies to help us combat the problem.” 

He also highlighted the need to improve public transport if it was to be considered a viable alternative to getting a car. 

“It took me two-and-a-half hours to get to Valletta and it will take me another two hours to get home. This cannot continue, for the system to work it has to be sustainable,” he said.

“We need to have a good and efficient mode of public transport but we’re not getting that with Tallinja (the route bus service). It’s good that the service is free, but kids aren’t using it because it's not a good service.” 

‘I want to grow up in a country that cares about my future’ 

Nine-year-old Martina Cassar told the conference that last summer’s heat waves should have been an overdue wake-up call to the state of rising global temperatures. 

“I am very worried about my future and I don’t know what’s going to happen due to the drastic effects of climate change,” she said. 

She mentioned water scarcity as one of the country’s most pressing climate issues and said that more needs to be done to preserve the water supply, especially in light of the fact that last year, nine of the 12 months were drier than average. 

Citing the excessive number of cars on the road, Cassar also said that planting more trees was crucial to offset CO2 emissions from their pollution.

“I want to grow up in a country that cares for me,” she said. 

“When you’re taking  decisions, think of me and all the other children in the country who want to grow up in a clean and safe environment. You need to take action today before it is too late.” 

‘I came to Malta for my health, but the air is dirtier than ever’ 

15-year-old Rythm Garg told the conference that her parents had brought her to Malta from India 10 years ago because of her childhood health problems. 

“They came because they wanted me to breathe clean air, but today it's sad that this is a thing of the past, it is not the case anymore,” she said. 

“It is crucial that we work together. We all know how serious the problem is, but some of us insist on sweeping it under the rug.” She said the increase in health problems all over the world as well as natural disasters showed that the problem could not be ignored. 

She said that there is power in individuals making better choices, such as shopping for local items which are likely to have a lower carbon footprint than imported products. 

Public transport, she said needed to become more efficient as it did not meet the needs of young people and students. And as alternative transport such as cycling was encouraged, the road infrastructure needed to be improved to support cyclists. 

Other speakers included Opposition leader Bernard Grech and MP Eve Borg Bonello.

Grech said he agreed on the need for immediate action to counter climate change, in areas such as public transport and sewage treatment, and said a change of mentality was needed.    

Eve Borg Bonello said climate change was an existential crisis and tough decisions needed to be taken to protect current and future generations. 

Conference participants included former president Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca,  MPs from both sides of the House and representatives of NGOs.