The world celebrates World Environment Day on Sunday. The theme that has been chosen for the day is ‘Only one Earth’. This same theme was used at the first global environment gathering way back in 1972.

The relevance of this theme lies in the fact that we truly have just one Earth and any damage to it has an impact on everyone and on future generations. Moreover, we need to keep in mind that this year’s World Environment Day is coming in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic (the economic and social effects of which we are still being felt); in the midst of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine (with a clear and present threat to world peace), with a possible food crisis (because of a disruption in the supply of food); and at a time when the inflation rate is at its highest in many years.

We truly have just one Earth and any damage to it has an impact on everyone and on future generations

This challenges us to assess the impact of harm to the environment and of climate change on the economy. Of course, there will be the temptation of those who deny the existence of such harm and those who deny climate change to push their agenda to save the economy from the negative impact of the pandemic, the war in the Ukraine and high inflation.

These negative developments should serve as an opportunity to push forward the pro-environment agenda and to seek a fundamental structural change of the economy. Let us take one example. As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has agreed on a set of economic sanctions against Russia. One of these sanctions is reducing the dependence of EU member states on Russian oil and gas.

Russia has already retaliated to this by cutting off supplies to a number of EU countries, which is nothing more than a political move, as Russia depends on these exports for its economic well-being, as much as EU member states depend on Russian oil and gas to power their economy.

Running down the dependence on Russian oil and gas provides the opportunity to develop alternative sources of energy, which are renewable. This will require significant investment but will lead to less harm to the environment and a structural change of the EU economy.

If this were the only issue, then we could somehow learn how to live with it. However, climate change has meant that several countries have to contend with extreme weather conditions, be it excessive heat, flooding or very cold weather. The impact over time will be desertification, rising sea levels and loss of natural habitats. This is gradually but slowly eating away at our capacity to produce food.

In the words of Pope Francis: “It is a delusion to think that we can stay healthy in a world that is sick.” All of this is relevant to Malta as well.

A publication of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Malta, titled Yahad, provides a very interesting analysis, which includes, among other things, the impact of damage to the environment on the human person. Two points which this document makes in relation to the environment are very relevant to this theme “only one Earth”.

First, artificially created open spaces cannot be seen as a compensation for the destruction of our natural environment. Secondly, we must not reach the state where public green spaces become so scarce and public foreshore encroachment becomes so widespread, that only those with considerable economic means may continue to enjoy nature.

I wonder if what we have today is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the necessary choices to protect the environment and thus safeguard the economic and social well-being of the human person.