16:30 Updated with PL comment
15:10 Updated with PN reaction

Malta’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by a quarter in 2015, the largest decline across the EU, new Eurostat figures show.

The 26.9 per cent decrease can be largely attributed to the closure of the Marsa power station and the use of the interconnector. It was a full 10 percentage points bigger than the second highest decline in emissions in an EU state, Estonia’s 16 per cent decrease. Denmark (-9.9 per cent), Finland (-7.4 per cent) and Greece (-5.0 per cent) also registered declines in emissions.

Emissions across the EU as a whole rose by 0.7 per cent for the year, and the majority of EU states increased their carbon emissions. The highest increases were recorded in Slovakia (+9.5 per cent), Portugal (+8.6per cent) and Hungary (+6.7 per cent), followed by Belgium (+4.7 per cent) and Bulgaria (+4.6 per cent).

In a statement announcing the figures, Eurostat noted that imports and exports of energy products impacted CO2 emissions in the country where fossil fuels are burned. Importing coal leads to an increase in emissions, while importing electricity makes no difference to registered emissions, as they are reported in the exporting country where the electricity is produced.

The Nationalist Party said the fall in emissions was due to the interconnector and BWSC power station, which made closing the Marsa power station possible. 

Eurostat figures, the PN said, were proof that the new gas power station being built was not needed, "because bills were already being reduced thanks to the PN's vision." 

That claim was ridiculed by the Labour Party. The PL mocked the Opposition Leader for "trying to take some credit" for the government's energy plans "when the only plan he had offered was to wash clothes at night time."