ADPD calls for 50% renewable energy target by 2030

ADPD has called for Malta to double its 2030 renewable energy target to 50%, saying the country’s current climate ambitions are too weak and incompatible with an economic model built on “unsustainable growth”.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, the Green Party said Malta should move faster towards carbon neutrality and stop investing in fossil fuel infrastructure.

Deputy chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said Malta could not keep talking about environmental protection while continuing with “business as usual”.

“Spending on fossil fuel infrastructure is money that should instead be spent on today’s and tomorrow’s technologies, such as greentech,” he said.

Malta currently generates just over 17% of its energy from renewable sources and the National Energy and Climate Plan has set the target of increasing that to 25% by 2030. 

The Nationalist Party says it would target reaching 30% by that date.

Cacopardo said those targets are not ambitious enough

He criticised both Labour and the Nationalist Party, saying parliament had declared a climate emergency in 2019 but the major parties had failed to act with the urgency required.

He accused Labour of saying one thing in Malta and another in the EU, while saying PN representatives spoke as “paladins of the environment” locally but then worked to weaken the Green Deal in the European Parliament.

“For us, the environment, wellbeing and the economy are part of one system,” he said.

Carmel Cacopardo and Mark Zerafa speaking on Saturday. Photo: ADPD

ADPD said large companies, including banks, insurers and financial services firms, should be required to show how they intend to change their operations to reach net zero before 2050.

It also said state aid to businesses should be tied to changes that improve energy efficiency, increase renewable energy use and help companies generate their own clean energy.

More solar panels and energy communities

Party candidate Mark Zerafa, who is contesting the first and ninth districts, said Malta remained too dependent on private cars, arguing that the country had widened and built roads instead of investing seriously in alternatives.

ADPD’s transport proposals include a bus rapid transit system, safer routes for pedestrians, cyclists and pedelec users, and giving public transport greater road priority.

Zerafa said Malta should make better use of its year-round sunshine by installing solar panels on buildings so they could generate the energy they need. He also called for more investment in energy storage, offshore wind, wave power and other forms of marine energy.

The party also proposed the creation of energy communities, through which residents and businesses could jointly produce, share and consume renewable energy.

Zerafa said such cooperatives could make better use of Malta’s limited space by turning rooftops and other urban areas into clean-energy sites, while also helping people at risk of energy poverty.

ADPD said the energy distribution system also needed to be modernised more quickly so it could support decentralised energy production.

It said the construction industry should shift its focus towards regenerating existing buildings and improving their energy efficiency, arguing this could also create new jobs.

“We need clear and concrete targets,” Zerafa said. “With weak and half-hearted measures, we will not get there.”