Unknown to the world until six months ago, Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl, decided to skip school for a day of informal protest. She rightfully claimed that our generation had failed her and also the younger generations in our treatment of the climate issue.
She did this over and over, and this young girl’s activism made her not go unnoticed for very long.
In December, she addressed the United Nations Climate Convention plenary and many other high-level bodies, including the European Parliament a few months ago.
She had one central message to give all of us – “shame on you” politicians who care more about power and money than about people; shame on us politicians who care more about the present than the future, whose chronic short-sightedness is sending us off the cliff of a climate disaster. To quote her directly, “You [Politicians] have sold our future!”
Where do we – the Maltese political class – feature in this picture? From the most recent data and reports with regard to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change in Malta, it seems we do not represent the Greta Thunberg of the situation. Rather, we are an unwilling and careless bunch looking only at ourselves today, paying no attention to our future and the wellbeing of the future generations. And yes, we should look to ourselves and cry in shame.
Malta had the highest increase in emissions over the past year, partly due to an economy based on unmanaged population growth, but also partly due to a government that is not looking closely at these issues from a policy perspective.
A recent review report published by the European Commission revealed a sore point in our national policy and foresight in the field of energy and climate. The Commission report found Malta has considerably lacking and insufficient plans for ensuring the future wellbeing of our forthcoming generations. The three main fields the Commission has analysed in its work are the renewable energy, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions projections provided by the Maltese government in its national Climate and Energy plan.
We do not represent the Greta Thunberg of the situation
It is worth noting that the document submitted to the Commission could have been widely discussed in Parliament, but it seems the government was not of the opinion that the future of the Maltese citizens needed a thorough and cross-party discussion away from the usual petty political divide.
It is of concern to anyone who loves this country that Malta is far off the mark on its commitments for greenhouse gas reductions and without a clear and effective plan on how to build a renewable energy future.
De facto, Malta is only going to achieve a renewable energy share of 13 per cent in 2030 – a far cry from what I would have personally expected for the next 10 years. Malta also seems to be far from implementing its 19 per cent emission reduction target for 2030.
This is more worrying when we see what science is telling us. We need to cut our greenhouse gas emissions completely by 2050, and not one minute can be lost.
Undoubtedly, the government cannot do it alone, partly because it lacks interest, and partly due to the impossibility of the task being achieved only through nice, petty measures with positive political results.
The Commission report exposes this with unmistakable clarity. The PN has already sown the seed of collaboration – even though it’s up to the government to nourish it – with the intention of somehow encouraging the government to seek collaboration with those who are willing, including the Opposition, to drive the economy and the behaviour of citizens towards a low-emission future.
This is essential if the government wants to fulfil its commitments, including the most recent one proposed by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat about European carbon neutrality by 2050.
David Agius is PN Deputy Leader.