Extinction Rebellion Malta activists sat on the steps of Castille on Tuesday evening to urge the government to tackle the climate crisis with the same urgency as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Activists said Malta was already behind the minimal EU targets of reaching at least 10% renewable energy to achieve carbon neutrality. The sit-in action was the first of many that will take place over the upcoming weeks, Extinction Rebellion said.

Activists emphasised that by continuing to procrastinate on climate action, it was going to get harder to tackle it in the future.

This, they said, was an “abandonment of political responsibility”.

“The pandemic has laid bare existing inequalities and conflicting priorities. There is already much to indicate that dangerous levels of global warming is already a reality. Refusing to act now will make us lose whatever little control we have over the situation. Action is needed now more than ever,” they stressed.