European Green Capital

On February 23, Stockholm and Hamburg were named as the first winners of the new European Green Capital Award.

The European Commission's new award is aimed at encouraging cities to improve the quality of life by having the environment on the agenda in any urban planning.

These cities were rewarded for giving priority to the environment and quality of life.

Stockholm aims to be fossil fuel free by 2050 and 95 per cent of the population live less than 300 metres from a green area.

In the future there are plans for more beaches and an integrated waste system that would lead to higher recycling rates.

The introduction of various measures has led to a 25 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions since 1990.

Hamburg is committed to appropriate funding for its environmental policy and to various awareness-raising programmes. The city aims to reduce its CO2 emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

We are surely all in agreement that these initiatives should stimulate us to continue to prioritise environmental issues here in Malta.

However, to date, we have been regaled with a number of environmental gimmicks with no real impact on local environmental issues. To compound matters, the latest trend is to use the environment as an excuse to increase taxes.