Malta is one of 17 EU member states that are backing calls to put the European Green Deal at the heart of a post-coronavirus recovery.

Aaron Farrugia tweeted on Monday that he had joined other Environment Ministers in urging Europe to remember the challenges of climate change when designing long-term strategies for a resilient recovery from the “unprecedented crisis”.

Earlier in April, 10 European climate change and environment ministers signed a letter which read: "We cannot afford setbacks that can have detrimental effects on our climate, biodiversity and environment as well as on human health and our economies."

France, Germany and Greece signed the letter a couple of days later and on Monday, the Irish, Slovak, Slovenian and Maltese ministers joined the list of signatories.

They are calling on the Commission to look into elements of the Green Deal, including the European Green Deal Investment Plan, which can be pushed forward to boost green recovery and a just transition.

"We need to scale up investments, notably in the fields of sustainable mobility, renewable energy, building renovations, research and innovation, the recovery of biodiversity and the circular economy."

The European Green Deal is a roadmap for making the EU's economy sustainable. Among others it aims at cutting all net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.