As the end of the year approaches, so too does the end of a decade labelled ‘the 2010s’. And one area that has been significant in people’s minds is the environment. Vanessa Conneely and Courtnie Bonett report.

Googling the term ‘climate change’ produces more than a billion results. The likes of the BBC’s David Attenborough and Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg have now become household names.

According to the latest Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), Malta ranks 14 out of 58 countries when it comes to being judged on 14 indicators, including emissions, renewable energy, energy use and policy.  A growth in tourism numbers, more cars on the road, population growth, fewer green spaces as well as coastal erosion are just some of the factors putting pressure on the country’s future.

Construction, population boom

According to the National Statistics Office, the construction boom has seen towns like St Paul’s Bay swell to almost 30,000, a population growth of 56 per cent of that area over the past decade.

But it’s not the worst area affected, with the largest increase occurring in Msida, where the number of residents rose to 13,713 from 8,567 in 2009, a rise of 58 per cent in just a decade. 

Tourism, deemed to be a major factor of climate change – has also seen huge growth, with the number of flights to Malta soaring from 1.2 million to 2.4 million between 2009 and October 2019. Those arriving by cruise ship also grew, with passenger traffic increasing from 439,630 in 2009, to 598,837 in September this year.

The number of people living on the island who are dependent on its natural resources such as fresh water, food and physical space has also shot up. In 2009, 437,203 called Malta and Gozo home, but this figure jumped to 493,559 by the end of last year, the most recent statistic available. This increase in population was by far the largest in the EU per capita, and includes the number of non-Maltese moving here, which saw a leap from four to 18 per cent.

 

The tree choppers

A decline in green spaces is also a problem for the island’s future. A report by the European Commission found that Malta ranks quite low when it comes to the number of square metres per capita at 4.5-9 – less than half of the EU average of 18sqm. And the problem is getting worse, as was highlighted in July when a huge protest took place in Attard over plans to uproot more than 500 trees to make way for the Central Link project.

“Unfortunately, trees seem to be the enemy in Malta for illogical reasons such as falling leaves, a danger to traffic or bird droppings on cars,” says Adrian Gatt, founder of the Grow10Trees project, which encourages people to plant seedlings at home.

“But the same people shower praise on the greenery of other countries when they go abroad. We only have one per cent of wooded area here.”

Scientists say green infrastructure also plays an important role in protecting against extreme flooding, but with much of the island being paved over during 10 years of a construction boom, water can’t be absorbed by the soil.

“I feel like the biggest culprit has been road widening,” Mr Gatt says.

“As well as bigger roads, we’ve also had flyovers and roundabouts, which instead of being filled with flora, have been cemented over.

“Once an area is built up, it is very hard to turn it back to its original state. But if the government makes a policy that most major roads need to be lined with trees on both sides and along the centre, we would at least start reversing some of the damage. People will argue that trees damage roads, but if the correct trees are chosen this can be avoided.”

The methane issue

The United Nations also factors in the effects of methane release from livestock, when it comes to assessing air pollution. According to the NSO the production of livestock across the islands deceased by 32 per cent between 2010 and 2018, going from 102,538 to 69,314. The population of pigs halved, and the number of cattle dropped by 10 per cent. On the other hand, the number of goats grew by 30 per cent to 5,726, while sheep rose to 11 per cent or 13,169. As for poultry, the country now produces an estimated 109 million eggs a year, up from 98 million in 2009.

A load of rubbish

Another form of pollution which has increased is municipal waste. The NSO says between 2010 and 2018 total municipal waste which was landfilled went up by 18 per cent to 266,477 tons. A report by the European Environment Agency found that in 2010 the overall treatment of municipal waste management in Malta was broken down into 82 per cent landfill and 13 per cent recycled. By 2016, data from Eurostat showed things got even worse, with Malta bottom of the EU when it came to managing its waste.

Driven round the bend

Staying on with road – the number of vehicles has also increased in the past 10 years. According to the National Statistics Office, there were 747 vehicles per 1,000 residents 10 years ago. By 2018 – the most recent statistic available – it had risen to 782 per 1,000.

It’s no surprise then that the country fared poorly in a recent report by Eurostat probing European carbon dioxide emission levels. Malta saw a growth of 6.7 per cent, only second to Latvia, leaving it seriously under-performing in its greenhouse gas reduction targets. 

Weather or not

Some scientists believe that global climate change is also leading to more extreme weather in Malta. Over the past decade we’ve learned that as a small island nation, Malta has more in common with countries in the Caribbean and Pacific than many of its European neighbours.

Malta will miss all its projected carbon emission targets for 2030 by a massive 62 per cent, making it the most regressive country in the EU by a long shot.

“The major predictions for our future are a lack of precipitation in the Mediterranean, which will lead to drought and impact our fresh water resources,” says Malta’s Ambassador for Climate Change Professor Simone Borg.

“Logistically we also have the same problems as other small island nations, in that we don’t have a bigger piece of land to retreat to, if we start to experience more cyclones like the one we had earlier this year.”

A major storm last February devastated the island, leaving tens of thousands of euros of damage in its wake.

And weather-related climate change in other countries could also have an impact on Malta. In 2018, the World Bank estimated that Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia will generate 143 million more climate migrants by 2050, some of whom will move to Malta.

The good news

However, it is not all bad. When it comes to households, the commissioning of the Mechanical Biological Treatment plant has been a positive measure. So too have been the development of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for packaging, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and batteries and accumulators.

And on another positive note, the amount of energy generated locally from renewable sources has risen, with the NSO saying that 15 per cent more megawatt-hours were produced between the years 2017 and 2018.

And the latest report on bathing water quality in the EU put Cyprus and Malta at the top of the pile.