Environment Minister Mario de Marco told Parliament yesterday that Malta had applied for EU funds for major restoration works on forts St Elmo and St Angelo. The government wanted to ensure that sustainable development proposals and strategies were to be measured against economic, social and environmental criteria.

He was introducing the Sustainable Development Bill aimed at mainstreaming sustainable development across the workings of the government, to raise awareness and promote the adoption of such issues and practices across society. The measures under the environment national policy document were to ensure a better quality of air and water, better waste management and protection of bio diversity among other issues.

Dr de Marco also announced that the proposal made by Malta in the Rio environment conference on the guardian for future generations 20 years ago was now gaining support from the EU economic and social committee and from the World Future Council in view of the Rio Plus conference to be held in June.

The government would be investing more than €2 billion until 2020 to implement more than 200 environmental measures, Environment Minister Mario de Marco announced yesterday

He said that the government had issued regulations to protect bio-diversity. The relevant strategy was being finalised and would be issued for public consultation. Mepa would spend up to €5 million in EU funds to manage the various Natura 2000 sites which covered two thirds of the island’s territory.

He spoke on initiatives taken by the government to clean up valleys, manage waste and bring a culture change in favour of the environment. The Mepa reform aimed to create a balance between the use of land and the protection of the environment and of the cultural heritage. It embarked also on the embellishment of village cores and urban areas with the aim also being to introduce more pedestrianised zones.

He said that the Bill was an enabling law creating a framework through which sustainable development was to be mainstreamed across the government. The competent authority was to ensure the development and implementation of Malta’s sustainable development strategy. It was to develop also a set of indicators for measuring the progress made, among other things. It had to perform audits to evaluate how the public administration integrated sustainable development principles in its programmes and projects.

The competent authority was to be given powers to carry out its functions including setting up sub committees and proposing directives to the Principal Permanent Secretary in terms of the Public Administration Act. Every government entity had to have a sustainable development focal point. Permanent Secretaries had the added role of sustainable development co-ordinators.

A sustainable development network was to be set up with representation from the public and private sectors and from NGOs.

The Bill also introduced the concept of the guardian of future generations with the aim of safeguarding inter-generational and intra-generational sustainable development. This was in line with Malta’s proposal for such a guardian at the Rio environmental conference held 20 years ago. This concept was to be revived in the Rio plus conference to be held in June, creating the post of ombudsmen on sustainable development at an international level.

Earlier, the minister listed the measures the government had taken with respect to sustainable development, including legislation to protect the environment in 2001, introducing sustainable development as a legal concept.

Dr de Marco said it was a privilege to present the Sustainable Development Bill, as it would make Malta one of the few countries to have exclusive sustainable development legislation.

Malta took several measures with respect to sustainable development and it was a pity that these were described as being solely economic.

Numerous schemes were launched with respect to energy audit. The government had also introduced a new system of car registration tax. It also encouraged the scrapping of old cars and the purchasing of Euro-five standard cars. Through the public transform reform, the old buses were replaced with a cleaner fleet.

The government provided a 50 per cent subsidy to those installing photovoltaic panels rendering consumers less dependent on traditional energy: they also resulted in cheaper bills. The PN’s five-energy-saving-bulb electoral promise was a symbolic gesture intended to change the mentality towards cleaner energy.

All measures were an investment towards sustainable development. And one should note that everything came at a price. However, this did not mean that one would not help those in need. On the other hand, one could not subsidise energy for the rich: this would be a social injustice. One had to help only the needy.

The government was paying a political price when embracing a policy towards sustainable development but this was what political seriousness required.

In a situation where water was scarce, the government enacted new legislation on boreholes and installed meters. One had to be aware of possible water pollutants such as pesticides and nitrates.

While sewage water was being treated not to pollute seawater, the Water Services Corporation was also conducting studies to determine whether it could be used for agricultural purposes and whether it could be filtered into drinking water.

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