Claudia Calleja
Climate change strategy soon to become official
The national climate change strategy, launched for consultation earlier this year, should be approved by the Cabinet next week, Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino said.
The strategy aims to ensure Malta cleans up its act and reaches the EU's climate change targets by 2020. It touches on issues that include efficient lighting, alternative energy, waste management, water and electricity and information campaigns.
As a member of the EU, Malta is committed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20 per cent from the 1990 levels and ensure 10 per cent of its energy is generated from clean sources.
The island has pledged that, by 2020, gas emissions will not be more than five per cent higher than those of 2005 in transport, agriculture and waste management. Climate change was a priority, Mr Pullicino told his Swedish counterpart Andreas Carlgren during a meeting yesterday, just weeks before Sweden takes on the six-month EU Presidency on July 1.
Sweden plans to focus of four environmental points - climate change, eco-energy efficiency, marine environment and biological diversity. Touching on eco efficiency, Mr Pullcino said green jobs made up three per cent of Malta's labour force and two per cent of its gross domestic product.
Despite the global economic crisis this sector increased by six per cent a year. Malta also had two marine conservation areas - Għajn Tuffieħa and Filfla - which it hoped to increase to six.
Mr Carlgren said the visit allowed both countries to exchange experiences on new environment technologies. Mr Pullicino said Malta looked forward to familiarising itself with the way the Swedish government had succeeded in making people understand that incinerators were not hazardous.
In Malta, people resisted the idea of having an incinerator in their communities and found it difficult to accept that these did not endanger their health, he said.
Later in the day, Mr Carlgren paid a courtesy visit on Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.
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C Micallef
Jun 9th 2009, 14:30
FIREWORKS GALORE!!!
Each fireworks explosion produces tons of CO2. Do we really need all that excessive fireworks for every celebration we have to do? Considering the very small size of Malta, which place in the whole world has such a excessive density of fireworks fired from practically every corner of its very limited space? Which country? Don get excuses on tradition. I am NOT saying that fireworks should be abolished completely. "Moderation" is the key term.
J.Vella BICREF
Jun 9th 2009, 12:49
BICREF's Comment 3 on Changing climate challenges and biodiversity conservation in Maltese Islands.
As the Maltese Islands are blessed with extensive build up surfaces and solar energy that can be used, these should be actively considered in our planning for solutions. Natural space and resources are too limited on and around our wonderful islands to see them further degraded. If indeed tourism needs to be in any way one of our economic support systems, we need to consider what tourist will come to our islands for? More noise, pollution, poor diversity of marine life, increasing jellyfish and ugly structures everywhere one looks from cranes to numerous wind-farms to smelly tuna pens, all synonymous of priority placed on careless business and temporary profits. All far from the sustainable development we all too often have heard politicians promise us. The local media and press also have an important role to play if indeed we need to allow citizens to come to terms with and assist in solving the real problems ahead facing our deteriorating quality of life.
Contact BICREF on: bicref@gmail.com
and
BICREF, PO BOX 30, Hamrun
J.Vella BICREF
Jun 9th 2009, 12:43
BICREF's Comment 2 on Changing climate challenges and local marine biodiversity
Climate change will increasingly demand local and regional biodiversity to cope, adapt or disappear depending on the genetic diversity and resilience of local species. Shrinking stocks and populations with loss of genetic diversity and potential for allowing species to adapt to environmental change. Unfortunately, careless and competitive fishing, catching all that can be caught and leaving very little behind, abusing and ignoring laws and regulations for the increasing need to profit when decreasing abundance of resources makes it difficult to increase profit; Impoverished seas that have lost prey and predators. Bluefin tuna and sharks are still actively hunted locally, turtles and dolphins still end up falling victim of fishing gear, pollution and human persecution due to the competition with humans for scare resources. How effective are local conservation areas? How effective will any other future conservation area be, if so little monitoring and research is actually funded or supported locally to assist in conservation management? BICREF has been at the fore in demanding local actions that go beyond writing names of species and areas requiring conservation on paper.
J.Vella BICREF
Jun 9th 2009, 12:41
Changing climate and marine life: Are we really seeing long-term strategies being considered and planned locally?
BICREF's Comment 1:
The Maltese Islands face many challenges ahead to really come to terms with tangible solutions and actions by 2020, just as it failed to work toward the 2010 target for preventing further loss of local biodiversity. Increasing pollution with wastes, chemicals from runoffs and untreated sewage, sounds from increasing coastal development and frantic noisy vessel activities, lights that shine bright through the night leaving little chance for any coastal species to sea the stars. Now we look at our reefs as platforms for constructions, such as wind farms with little consideration of the increasing disturbance our coasts have already suffered. We also consider digging offshore for fuel without recalling the urgent need to invest on alternative clean energy in every sense of the word and that our sea is already changing due to global warming. Clean energy cannot be deleterious to biodiversity which is our essential natural fuel of life on Earth. Various local and international agreements and legislations attest to that, so why forget this when we need to improve our quality of life.