The two main parties failed to gradually prepare for the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, even if it was long in coming, ADPD said on Saturday.

The introduction of the Emissions Trading Scheme was public knowledge and both PL and PN could have achieved a good level of preparedness for it, Green Party leader Sandra Gauci said on Saturday. 

Under the scheme, carriers will be obliged to purchase ‘allowances’ to offset their carbon emissions when travelling to EU ports.  

The solution of the parties, Gauci said, was to resort to scaremongering about the effects of price hikes, ignoring the great benefits it brings to the residents of places like Birżebbuġa in terms of air quality.

The two parties were unable to promote a gradual 20-year transition to avoid the shocks to the Maltese economy which depends heavily on imported goods.

She urged the public to vote for "MEPs who are capable of making representations in favour of Malta with a modern European mentality, rather than with a provincial one", urging people to vote for Green candidates.