Malta is projected to see an increase of a staggering 62 per cent in its greenhouse emissions by 2030. It had bound itself to register a decrease of 19 per cent by 2030.
This is the cruel truth emerging from the European Environment Agency Report of 2019 on the ‘Trends and Projections in Europe: Tracking progress towards Europe’s climate and energy targets’. Malta’s fiasco is head and shoulders above the next worst country offenders, which can easily hide their failure behind Malta’s unequalled shame and dirt.
But the government told you that it had declared a climate emergency in 2015.
Malta is by far the EU country furthest away from reaching its own climate change obligations. This government has shamed us to no end in this regard.
It was not satisfied by the moniker of the dirtiest man in Europe, as Euronews shouted to us last January due to Malta’s worst recycling rate in the whole European Union. Now we are the only country light years away from reducing our greenhouse emissions by 2030.
But the government told you that it had declared a climate emergency in 2015.
You might want to bet that you can find some solace in the figures for the 2020 targets in greenhouse emissions with which Malta is bound, but you’d lose the bet big time.
Malta is by far the EU country furthest away from reaching its own climate change obligations
Malta, according to the EU Environment watchdog, is expected to miss out the 2020 targets by a whopping 27 per cent.
Do you recall Joseph Muscat’s platitudes wanting to make Malta the best in Europe? Read the European Commission public reaction to Malta’s draft ‘National Energy and Climate Change Plan’ covering the period 2021-2030. I invite you to find all the instances where the European Commission is stating that Malta has “very low ambition” in meeting energy efficiency and climate change targets. You will not be disappointed. You will cringe in embarrassment.
These National Plans are due to be submitted by all member states by the end of this year. No other EU member State receives Malta’s notoriety.
But the government told you that it had declared a climate emergency in 2015.
It is with all this in mind and more that I tabled, with the fullest of support and on behalf of the Opposition, our motion in Parliament to declare a climate change emergency.
What happened in between the tabling of the motion and its approval on October 22 is public knowledge. I will not repeat here the insults, the derogatory remarks, the belittling meted out to me by the government prior to and during the debate in Parliament that day.
The answer was duly given on the day of the parliamentary debate and vote by no less than 31 youth NGOs under the laudable and wise umbrella of the Kunsill Nazzjonali taż-Żgħażagħ, which all demanded that the government stop playing petty partisan politics and agree to the Opposition’s motion, which transcended all political boundaries.
I can reveal that the Environment Minister, a few minutes before the vote was taken, promised the Opposition that, by the end of the following week (that is, last week), the government would draft and send us the legislative amendments to flesh out the agreement reached.
On our part, I promised to send him our proposals for the amendments to the law by the same deadline.
The Opposition did not move a climate emergency motion just for its own sake. We wanted and are determined to have a legislative framework giving teeth to the declaration.
On October 26, a mere four days after the historic parliamentary vote on the climate change emergency, I passed on to the minister, a few minutes before we started the debate on his ministry’s budget estimates, the Opposition’s memorandum with detailed proposals, as had been agreed.
As at today, the Opposition and the country are still waiting for the government to wake up from its slumber and publish its amendments to the law in order to truly put its money where its mouth is.
Don’t forget: the government told you that it had declared a climate emergency in 2015.
Jason Azzopardi is shadow MP for the Environment and Maritime Affairs.