I happen to hold the view that the present government does not take sustainable development seriously, although it pays considerable lip service to it. This can also be said for the preceding Nationalist government.
The Nationalist government did set up a National Commission for Sustainable Development (NCSD) in terms of Part IV of the Environment Protection Act (Chapter 435 of the Laws of Malta). The Commission consisted of representatives of the government and of the Opposition, permanent secretaries of various ministries, representatives of local councils and NGOs, representatives of the business community, members of the media, academics (including myself) and others.
During some NCSD meetings, representatives of NGOs and academics often criticised the government of the day, stating that it preaches one thing and, in practice, does another. During its existence, the NCSD appointed a task force, led by myself, to draft a sustainable development strategy for the Maltese islands, and this was completed in December 2006.
A few months later, the strategy was approved by Cabinet at Castille, but it was mostly disregarded in practice.
The NCSD was abolished after a few years, when the Environment Protection Act was replaced by the Environment and Development Planning Act of 2010 (Chapter 504). Under the Nationalist government, the Planning Authority (later the Malta Environment and Planning Authority) was an additional check on unsustainable practices mostly relating to construction, although its ability to do so was weakened when the PN government extended the development zones by about 17 per cent in 2006. Interestingly, under the labour government’s watch, the Outside Development Zone (ODZ) area was not extended, but the Planning Authority liberally permitted building and extension of buildings in the existing ODZ, presumably with the consent of the powers that be.
The NCSD was replaced by another commission labelled the Guardian of Future Generations established by Article 8 of the Sustainable Development Act (Chapter 521), with the aim of safeguarding inter-generational and intra-generational sustainable development in Malta. The board, composed of four members appointed by the government, was not as representative as the NCSD. So far, this commission has not been very vociferous against the unsustainable development practices of the government. The same Act also set up Network for Sustainable Development, convened by the Office of the Prime Minister. There is also a Commissioner for Environment and Planning, operating from within the Ombudsman’s Office, who in recent years, has perhaps been the only officially appointed person voicing strong reservations against unsustainable development.
The government of the day is the ultimate enactor of the law and also its enforcer, and it is the political will of the government of the day that matters most in this regard
Under the Labour government, Mepa again became PA, delegating its environmental watchdog role to the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), assigning it very limited power, and thereby weakening the environmental safeguards associated with the planning process. The ineptness of ERA was very evidently seen in the case of the St George’s Bay monstrosity.
Recently, climate change has been declared an emergency by Parliament, but many of us know that this is a big joke and very probably another example of lip service, in a country which is one of the worst performing EU member states in terms of renewable energy, and where the air quality is killing people by the hundreds.
The bodies and agencies I mention above should have been of major importance for the promotion of sustainable development in the Maltese islands, but as is well known, the opposite is the case, with the environment in Malta – a major component of sustainable development – being increasingly degraded and sacrificed for money-making purposes, undoubtedly with the blessing of the authorities.
In fact, Malta can be showcased as a model of unsustainable development. Building malpractices abound; private car usage is encouraged through government policies such as the widening of roads (while everyday necessities such as accessible infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists are disregarded), liberal importation of second-hand cars, and loopholes in VRT assessments; green areas are disappearing and turned into building sites and petrol stations; the air is increasingly being polluted by cars and construction activity; marine pollution is increasing from sea-craft emissions and fish farms; trees are being destroyed by the thousands (this has taken a partisan twist, with government supporters playing down the importance of trees); water abstraction is out of control. Many of these developments are also leading to mounting social concerns.
Lack of political will
If we really wished to move forward in terms of sustainable development, the government must put in place an entity that is not controlled by the Prime Minister or by other ministers, and in which the government, the Opposition, civil society and the press are represented, primarily with an advisory role, but with the ability to effectively serve as watchdog for unsustainable practices, and voice its concerns in this regard. The Guardian of Future Generations should form part of this commission.
The former NCSD fitted this role, and I wish to suggest that it be legally reconstituted, with the additional remit of seeing to it that sustainable development be mainstreamed in all the laws of Malta.
Having said this, however, the government of the day is the ultimate enactor of the law and also its enforcer, and it is the political will of the government of the day that matters most in this regard. So far, it seems, such will has been lacking.
Lino Briguglio is professor of economics and director of the Islands and Small States Institute.
Sandro Spiteri will not be writing this week.