President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has made it her priority to get to grips with climate change and all that needs to be done to manage and exercise damage limitation. It is not that the EU does not have legislation to reduce emissions, to protect natural areas and restore biodiversity. On the contrary, the EU is a global leader in environmental protection.
The gap between being that leader and actually achieving carbon neutrality is implementation, correct financing and revision of some of the legislation to make it ambitious enough. The new Commission president’s European Green Deal encompasses all of this and includes qualified majority voting in Council, replacing unanimity on such issues.
The Green Deal sets out how the European Commission plans to become a global leader by transforming the EU economy into a sustainable economy. It will do this by coordinating all relevant legislation, embedding climate neutrality obligations in all legislation and supporting this challenging transition with financing, training and guidance both at EU and national level.
As a group of islands far from the influence of any nearby landmass, Malta has an enormous advantage and opportunity to become a leader among leaders. Once the decision is taken to act, it is remarkable how rapidly results can be seen.
This article focuses on three key areas of the Green Deal which are integral to building a carbon neutral strategy for Malta: “supplying clean, affordable and secure energy”, “building and renovating in an energy and resource efficient way”; these are highlighted, as cities generate 75 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions globally today and “preserving and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity”.
This is not to say that the other chapters are unimportant, quite the opposite.
Malta is the member state with the highest building and population density and the whole of Malta can be treated as one city. Tackling these environmental and economic issues together will greatly improve the situation across Malta.
One of the greatest challenges, we face, is balancing emissions and the absorption of CO2 so that human activity is either carbon neutral or carbon negative overall.
Today, Malta is so carbon positive that it costs the Maltese over €2 million per year to buy carbon credits from other, less polluting EU countries.
Let us imagine we have a carbon budget and it is out of control. The first step is to look at ways of preventing emissions.
Malta is so carbon positive that it costs the Maltese over €2 million per year to buy credits from other, less polluting EU countries
Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings prevents excess CO2 emissions by requiring less energy for heating and cooling. Energy efficiency can be achieved through building practices, insulation and greening. Increasing planting of local ecosystems within the urban environment will create a microclimate with cool corridors, rainwater absorption, and absorption of CO2 as the plants grow, further lowering emissions.
The other aspect of our carbon budget is energy production. We need to replace our energy source with one without carbon emissions. This can be any renewable energy source. Malta has an abundance of solar, wind and wave energy that can be harnessed. Solar energy capture is already present in Malta. Technologies appropriate for Malta’s size and demographic that harness wind and wave energy exist in Europe and should be used.
To add all of the pieces of the puzzle together, we have an additional resource right here in Malta which can rapidly return biodiversity to the islands and that is food and green waste. Food waste is already collected separately with the majority of citizens diligently sorting into their compostable bags. When composted, this waste which is up to 60 per cent of all household waste, can be an important resource for rebuilding biodiversity in the soil and in the flora and fauna.
Locally produced compost is a living product and therefore much more effective than any imported compost, also reducing CO2 emissions from transport. A living soil also actively absorbs CO2 with the added benefit of absorbing water and preventing flooding. The compost can be used within built-up areas in gardens, large pots, vegetable gardens, agriculture, forests and wild areas as a natural soil improver.
The link between these three actions is reducing the energy demand of buildings enough so that renewable energies can meet demand. Construction techniques inspired by the ancient Greeks and Romans use the sun, wind and plants to heat and cool. A refurbishment with green roofs will also reduce the heating and cooling demand by up to 75 per cent and if a biodiverse ecosystem is used, this multiplies the effectiveness of this thermal insulation technique.
Solutions to Malta’s environmental issues such as air pollution are available. Let’s activate all sectors of the Maltese economy and use the impetus of the Green Deal to transform our country into the climate neutral leader of the EU.
Vanya Veras is secretary general of Municipal Waste Europe and founder of Vivacity Ltd.