For the past 18 months, the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) has been researching what institutions, academics and the general public wish for when it comes to the environment. The results were overwhelmingly in favour of a well-being first future.
Our quality of life is dependent on our environment, but this became even clearer when, recently, things slowed down due to the pandemic and most people experienced first-hand what a less polluted natural environment could mean to our physical and mental states.
It is therefore not a coincidence that ERA’s 18 months of research, consultations and studies on where the country’s environmental future should lay has concluded that we all want the same thing, irrespective of who was consulted: a wellbeing-first vision for the environment.
For years, success has been measured in a way that doesn’t fully include all that matters for a good quality of life, but armed with this new knowledge of a common wellbeing goal, we can start shifting our measurement of progress to one that includes the health of the environment we live in.
ERA is now applying this well-being-first vision for 2050 as the ultimate goal of Malta’s National Strategy for the Environment (NSE). The first major milestone for the NSE was the development of a vision that set forth where this strategy will take us. It is backed by scientific evidence and serves as a far-sighted strategic direction for the incremental protection and management of the environment – starting from now and ending in a generation’s time.
The vision, aptly called Well-being-First, recognises the environment as fundamental to support overall wellbeing and sees growth leading to an improved quality of life that endorses environmental limits. It aims to promote a future where the environment, society and the economy are given equal importance. The vision sees higher standards of living or better opportunities attained only if accompanied by social and environmental considerations. This concept follows in the footsteps of the European Green Deal and the UN’s Sustainable Development goals.
But what will this mean for people?
A healthier and greener future lies ahead with cleaner air, more open spaces and with nature being considered integral to our towns and villages – each aspect promoting well-being and encouraging healthier lifestyles while attracting quality progress. Other efforts will strive to see us generate less waste as a population, conserve the rural environment and respect our islands’ land take-up limitations, while prioritising sustainable mobility.
While already having developed this vision on studies and extensive consultations, ERA is duty-bound to present its conclusions to the public through a public consultation before progressing further and applying the Well-being-First Vision as that which we all wish to work towards and be living in the coming years.
A healthy environment is both a right and duty, so everyone is invited to send ERA their views on this vision for our environmental future. The consultation will run until September 20, 2020, and ERA looks forward to hearing from you on nse@era.org.mt.
For more information, visit https://era.org.mt/public-consultation-wellbeing-first-a-vision-for-maltas-environment-national-strategy-for-the-environment-2050/.