Malta and the EU were in agreement to reduce gas emissions from 20 to 30 per cent, Resource Minister George Pullicino told Parliament yesterday. He was making a statement on the UN Cancun Climate Change Conference.
Answering questions by opposition spokesman on the environment Leo Brincat and government backbencher Philip Mifsud, Mr Pullicino said that Malta had always agreed to such a decrease on condition that every nation would carry its fair share of the burden and that developing nations – or those who have now developed, like Brazil, India and South Africa – would reduce their emissions on the basis of their economic activity.
There were still questions whether next year’s Durban Conference would arrive at a final global legal protocol. This would depend on the governments of the respective blocs.
The minister said one would have to see how the US administration would develop. With the Democrats having watered down control, one would be over-ambitious to think that the US would be in a position to grant future concessions in this regard. One had to be realistic and see how things would develop.
One important point that emerged from the Cancun Conference was the possibility of a closer partnership between the European Union and China in what the minister called “a new unforeseeable development”. Observers, he said, are predicting that this partnership could lead to other developments which would, in the end, result into a global agreement.
Referring to the Kyoto Protocol, Mr Pullicino said Japan had declared it would not be in a position to bind itself to agree to emission reduction during the second period of this agreement, if other countries like China and the US did not declare their intentions. This left big questions marks as to the future after 2012. Would this year be the time that would inject a breath of life to the Kyoto Protocol? he asked. One had to wait and see.
Mr Brincat asked what would be Malta’s position if the Kyoto Protocol was replaced by a new agreement. Mr Pullicino said that Malta’s stand was similar to that of the EU as long as there emerged a level playing field.
Developing countries were harbouring fears that if the Kyoto Protocol was scrapped, then everything would collapse. The difference between the EU stand at the time and the stand adopted at Cancun was clear, he said. While the EU declared it was in favour of a new agreement, developing nations accused the EU was ready to scrap the Kyoto Protocol altogether.
Later, the EU clarified its position saying as it was indeed ready to have a new agreement but there was nothing to impede it from adopting the protocol in parallel to the new agreement.
Mr Pullicino said that the Cancun Agreement was agreed upon after long hours of discussions which provided comfort to those countries which signed it without essentially closing the negotiations. It was a compromise agreement which gave something to everyone without necessarily addressing the bigger issues.
Every nation must work in the coming months so that during next year’s conference in Durban, a definite agreement would be reached.
The minister expressed fears as to how pledges would be translated into tangible action. There were no binding pledges regarding percentages which should be shouldered by certain blocs with regards to emission reduction and the time limits.
If one was committed to keep temperatures from rising not more than two degrees Celsius, then time limits were important, he said, The more feet-dragging, the harder and more expensive the exercise would become.
Referring to how funds would be governed and utilised, the minister said that it was agreed to have the World Bank as an interim trustee of the newly-formed Green Global Fund. However, the World Bank’s powers in this regard were still not clear, mainly because developing nations have reservations on the bank’s decisions go beyond climate change aspirations.
The minister said that this year and the next, car importers were expected to introduce second-generation electric cars and the government had to ensure a functional national network to provide an adequate number of vehicle charging points. As things stood, a fully-charged electric car presently in use on the island covers between 160 and 180 kilometres.
Turning to the home front, Mr Pullicino said the government had introduced a number of schemes about photovoltaic panels to be used on residences and factories and by SMEs and farmers. About 6,000 families in had invested in solar energy during the last two years: 4,000 solar water heaters, 2,300 photovoltaic panels, as well as 500 who invested in double glazing and insulation. The government aid amounted to some €9 million.
Malta had invested another €4 million in energy-saving lamps which were distributed to families according to their size. The government was very generous when compared to countries like Spain and Portugal, according to Mr Pullicino.