On sustainability

Publication of the document currently being finalised by the National Commission for Sustainable Development is eagerly awaited. It is understood that the commission, having held meetings for almost the last one-and-a-half years, should present a detailed sustainable development strategy around which future government policy should evolve.

In his recent contribution to The Times, Environment Minister George Pullicino argues that the work of the commission needs to be complemented by an objective-specific action plan designed to implement the proposed sustainability strategy. The Labour Party welcomes this initiative and it is hoped that, for once at least, a strategic document issued by the government with the usual pomposity will translate into concrete measures that will ultimately yield a better quality of life.

Experience proves that Nationalist governments rarely ranked sustainability issues high on the national agenda. Successive Nationalist administrations have failed miserably in striking the right compromise between the need for environmental protection and development. Notwithstanding an enhanced legal framework, this country has witnessed too many instances where irresponsible or dubious urban planning or development practices have brought about irreparable environmental damage. Two cases in particular are the monstrous block of apartments built next to Fort St Angelo, in Vittoriosa, and the government's shameful proposal to site a golf course at Ghajn Tuffieha. There is not enough space to argue about the mishandling of waste management issues and the Qui-Si-Sana development.

To make matters worse we are now being confronted with public dissatisfaction with the performance of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. The time may have come for a serious reconsideration of Mepa's role. For instance, to what extent can environmental management and development planning matters continue to be addressed within a single authority when environmental protection issues are often put aside to make way for unscrupulous development demand?

But moving towards sustainability involves an immensely more complex task than simply defining the raison d'etre of an institution such as Mepa. The real issue is the promotion and achievement of sustainable lifestyles.

The fact that we have grossly deviated from this objective is demonstrated by the worrying outcome of the recently published State of the Environment Report 2005 (SoE 2005). The assessment in this report certainly mandates, at least, a rethinking of the government's environmental policy - only six environmental indicators out of a total of 32 have been identified as exhibiting positive trends. Undoubtedly, the SoE 2005 analysis needs careful interpretation. However, it is impossible not to partly attribute this sad state of affairs to chronic deficiencies in the government's long-term policy for the environment sector.

Labour has certainly not been passive in the wake of the ever-increasing popular concern about the state of our environment. We recognise the country is facing a diversity of environmental problems that need to be addressed urgently. The task goes beyond the drafting of well-presented documents. Labour has recently approved its updated environment policy document Pjan ta' Politika Ambjentali ghal Malta u Ghawdex, which has been met favourably by all environment NGOs and numerous individuals who have expressed their satisfaction with the document.

Essentially, Labour's plan for the environment revolves around sustainability issues. The starting point is recognition that unless government economic and social policies genuinely take into account environmental issues, it is unrealistic to expect long-term benefits in the context of achieving sustainable lifestyles.

It is in this sense that the work of the National Commission for Sustainable Development complements the Labour Party's policy plan initiative. Preparing the policy document has been a thoroughly engaging exercise which has not only enabled the party to reaffirm its good relations with environment NGOs but these organisations were provided with the opportunity to forward numerous proposals on various environmental sectors, which proposals were eventually included in the document.

Unless the country attains the good governance it deserves, achieving the commission's noble aims for sustainable lifestyles risks degenerating into mere wishful thinking. The reasons are twofold. Firstly, as far as the promotion of sustainable lifestyles is concerned, Nationalist governments have a credibility problem - Nationalist economic development policies since 1987 have proved myopic and rarely has the issue of environmental impacts been put into the equation. How can we otherwise explain the resultant notorious Maghtab land rise, for example? Secondly, it is only since EU accession that the Nationalist government is half-heartedly attempting to put sustainability higher up on its agenda. In the pre-accession years, the PN government has merely dragged its feet in the promotion of tangible ways aimed at promoting sustainability. It is a sad fact that after tiring the public with pedantic rhetoric about EU accession solving Malta's environmental problems, Nationalist ministers are now preaching that we all need to pull up our socks.

The task for a prospective Labour government to gear the country to a better quality of the environment coupled with sustainable living is certainly a major challenge. However, we confidently admit that we have already set the ball rolling. Labour has more than just a policy plan - it has the will to implement and it intends to do the job.

Mr Galdes is the Labour Party's spokesman for the environment and national heritage.