Labour MPs shoot down PN’s environmental protection law

Government MPs have shot down a proposed law by the Nationalist Party to enshrine the right to a healthy environment in Malta’s constitution.

In a parliamentary debate on Thursday evening, Labour MPs voted against the proposal to codify the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in Malta’s constitution.

The law would have allowed people to bring court action against the state for violating this right, however critics raised concerns it could be used to launch lawsuits attacking activities like village feasts, hunting and sport events.

Even before the parliament debate kicked off, Environment Minister Miriam Dalli said the government shared these concerns, and would instead be launching a wide-ranging consultation process on strengthening environmental laws.

Expanding on this during the parliament debate, Dalli said the government has a duty to put forward studied proposals that make sense.

She said these proposals must not risk impinging on the rights of other groups. The minister said the government has put forward a green paper which will be open for a two-month consultation period.

Dalli characterised the Opposition’s own proposed environmental protection law as being rushed and unstudied.

She said the groups and associations that raised concerns about the PN’s proposals, ranging from the hunters’ lobby to the Malta Football Association, represent thousands of people.

“Did you consult with them?”, Dalli questioned, while reading out the various public statements by these groups expressing worry that the PN's law could be used to stifle their activities.

Dalli said the government, through its green paper, will properly study proposals to improve environmental protection, while giving everyone a chance to have their say.

‘A mess’

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard described the PN’s law as a mess from “beginning to end”.

Attard said the PN’s bill had managed to split the country, with a vast number of organisations and bodies coming out against it.

“This was a populist process void of all consultation,” Attard accused.

He said the bill is full of legal, constitutional and political problems.

Attard said the proposal could “paralyse” the state with a number of frivolous lawsuits.

He asked if the Opposition had carried out an impact assessment on its own proposal.

“We are not against the environment. We are against this amateurish proposal,” the minister said.

Home Affairs minister Byron Camilleri said that while protecting the environment is undoubtedly a good thing, MPs have a duty to address the “genuine” concerns raised by critics of the proposed law.

Camilleri said those who had raised concerns did not do so out of interest for partisan politics, but out of worry about how the law could impact their hobbies and livelihoods.

Government ‘pressure’

Opposition leader Alex Borg opened his speech by saying it has been a long time since the government had been in such a panic.

Borg said through its proposal, the Opposition had led the national agenda on the environment.

He accused government ministers of “pressuring” and “directing” various associations to issue public statements against the PN’s proposed law.

Borg said he was proud to have put a law defending the environment on parliament’s agenda.

“The environment is not a luxury. It is a right, like the right to life and health. We are in an environmental crisis".

“We entered parliament with a minister for the environment. We may exit here with a minister against the environment,” Borg quipped about Miriam Dalli’s resistance to the PN’s proposal.

Borg said the Labour government spent years dragging its feet on the PN’s proposal, which was first unveiled in 2023.

He said the proposed law would empower the courts to reverse decisions by the government that damage the environment.

“The government cannot keep on passing policies that damage the environment,” Borg said.

Picking on the government’s controversial planning laws, Borg said that while the PN is in favour of holistic reforms, the government’s amendments would benefit the few, to the detriment of many.

“Malta and Gozo’s future is in our hands. People are expecting us to defend them. Let us truly have the environment at the centre of our hearts,” Borg said.

‘Let us not kill this’

PN MP Darren Carabott, who co-authored the law, said the Opposition is proud to have led the national agenda on protecting the environment.

“This vote needs a two-thirds majority. Together, we can unite as a parliament and vote in favour of the environment. Do not kill this idea today…Let’s keep this debate alive,” Carabott urged parliament.

Carabott said the Opposition is open to improving the law at committee stage if the government votes in favour of it.

The PN MP promised that a Nationalist government will implement the law, even if the government tries to kill it.

“How can you vote against a declaration giving Maltese and Gozitans the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment…How can you find fault in protecting current and future generations,” Carabott questioned.

PN MP Rebekah Borg, the bill’s other co-author, expressed her disbelief that the environment minister spent the entire debate speaking out against the environment.

Borg said the PN had consulted various bodies about the law, including the Malta Developers’ Association and others.

The PN MP questioned what Dalli would tell environmental NGOs, who were 100% in favour of the Opposition’s bill.

“Stop scaremongering…this fundamental right is protecting these organisations [that raised concerns],” Borg said.