National plan for sustainable development

Sustainable development is a phrase that has become widely used, particularly during and since the earth summit in Rio in 1992. But for Malta, sustainability was given substance only 10 years later, in 2002, when the National Commission for Sustainable Development - under the chairmanship of the prime minister - was first established.

Sustainable development is concerned with achieving economic growth in the form of higher living standards, while protecting and enhancing the environment. Not just for the sake of having a better environment, but because a damaged environment will sooner or later hold back economic growth and lower the quality of life of our people.

More important than formal definitions, however, are the key objectives which in Malta should underpin sustainable development. There are three interlocking objectives. First, maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment. For our country to prosper, we must be competitive and entrepreneurial and be able to weather the storms that beset a micro state like ours with no natural resources.

Secondly, we want social progress that recognises the needs of everyone. It is not enough to focus on economic policies if groups in society feel excluded.

Thirdly, we need effective protection of the environment. This means acting to protect human health and safety from hazards, such as air or water pollution. To protect things that people need to value, such as our unique natural landscapes and our historic sites, buildings and monuments.

How do we reconcile the three interlocking elements that together should combine to make for sustainable development - economic growth, social justice and the environmental quality of life?

Let us start with the economic leg of the sustainability platform. Speaking as a layman, not an economist, what I see is an economy which has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade-and-a-half - judged by all the measures of personal indulgence and consumerism, infrastructural and social improvements. But an economy which is now in danger of petering out unless radical steps are taken to question existing priorities and to redirect policies and resources to where they can support higher economic growth without jeopardising our environmental quality of life.

The economy relies substantially on imports for its industrial supplies and consumer goods; and on exports of goods and services for its income. Very simply put, if our goods and services are not competitive, our economy stumbles.

Malta is facing a continuing weakness in its export markets. But at the same time our proclivity to consume has increased significantly and shows no sign of abating.

The government is running a major public sector deficit which can only be curbed by reining back on expenditure and raising more taxes. Our competitiveness lags behind that of other EU members. Our real growth rate over the last two years has been the lowest of all the countries acceding to the EU. We must accept that for some time we shall be hard pushed to achieve any meaningful economic growth on the lines we have hitherto enjoyed.

In the social field, we can rightly boast that in terms of the United Nations Human Development Index, which takes into account income, education and health, Malta ranks in the top 30 or so in the world.

Poverty in Malta is notable by its absence - except for one or two relatively isolated pockets. The welfare system provides a solid safety net. Health care, education, pensions and social benefits are adequate. But a rapidly aging population and a smaller workforce to sustain it mean that there are increasing strains on all aspects of our welfare system.

As to the third leg of our sustainability platform, our environmental policies have lagged sadly behind. Suffice to say that for the last 15 or 16 years Malta has opted for economic growth combined with social improvements at the cost - almost invariably - of our environmental quality of life. The environmental penalty for economic growth has been a heavy one.

The consequences of such environmental degradation are economically short-sighted since they affect the productive potential of an economy that is so highly dependent on quality tourism.

Worse, the impact on our environment is eroding the welfare of current and future generations. Environmental concerns pose a formidable challenge for sustainable development. Of all of Malta's environmental problems, urban sprawl, over-development and the way we abuse our land are the most visible and the most pressing.

Taking the three strands of economic growth, social cohesion and protection of the environment together, the picture I have painted is bleak. Thumbs down all round. Where should we go from here?

The temptation, I suspect, will be for the government to put economic growth first and the creation of a properly thought-out National Plan for Sustainable Development on the backburner.

This would be a blunder. The pickle we are now in - especially on the environmental front - is due in no small part to the lack of a comprehensive and properly implemented sustainability plan. We appear to have lurched from one short-term decision to another without apparently a thought for the overall consequences.

The need for a proper plan is now all the more vital if we are to come through the next few testing years with our economy and the welfare safety net intact and our environment safeguarded from further erosion. It is a matter not only of recovery but also of survival.

Malta faces challenging choices. In the Maltese context, sustainable development should involve thinking broadly about objectives and about the effects of what we do. It should involve considering long-term effects, as well as short-term ones. Some of the most costly problems facing Malta today are caused by crass past decisions. Any sustainability strategy must set out policies not just for the next year or two but must look 20 years ahead, or more.

The first step must be a determination - the political will - to draw up a workable national plan for sustainable development. We have ducked this issue for too long. Forward planning does not come easily to us. Like politicians the world over, our politicians tend to be opportunists and tacticians, but poor strategists.

Achieving such a plan will involve action by all sectors of society, in every part of our tiny island. Most commendably, the government intends to embark on such a debate and to feed the results into the preparation of the strategic plan. This is clearly to be welcomed - even though there is a risk that the public consultation could drag on and the government will be tempted to think with the consultation process that their job has been done, when it is actually only the start of the process.

In parallel with the public debate and consultation process, we wish to see work started urgently on devising the targets needed to achieve the improvements in the strategic directions we want to take. A vital part of sustainable development is setting targets and devising indicators to keep track of progress. Targets create the stepping stones along the path to the achievement of a national plan for sustainable development. They also make politicians and their civil servants more accountable.

The creation of a plan requires the analysis of the public feed-back which will be forthcoming and the distillation of those ideas and requirements into tangible planning targets. There is therefore an urgent need for the creation of a permanent secretariat to the National Commission on Sustainable Development - something which is currently lacking - to provide the intellectual input and the support so necessary to drive forward the creation and implementation of a successful plan.

All these elements must be brought together in one coherent whole. Economic growth on its own is not progress. We need to find ways of pursuing a happy, healthy and sustainable way of living. This is what we would call a responsible plan for sustainable development in European Malta - a national plan for recovery and survival.

It is a formidable challenge.

Mr Scicluna is executive president, Din l-Art Helwa.