This may have been the main underlying theme of the recent PL annual general conference, but it was also very much to the fore during the previous week when over a spread of three working days I managed to attend a Hope Conference on the marine environment in Brussels, an EU Environment Ministerial Council in the same city, and to hold meetings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with most senior government officials while attending a Green Economy Conference organised by Unep in conjunction with Unido.
During the Brussels Marine Environment Conference on Healthy Oceans and Productive Ecosystems, I not only spoke of our innate relationship with our surrounding sea that has provided trade and economic opportunities with the wider world, but I also made another point. That in order to realistically achieve a healthy and productive marine environment we need to involve all stakeholders that share the same marine regions: both EU member states and third countries.
With specific reference to the Mediterranean, it will not be possible to achieve our environmental goals without engaging with our partners in North Africa and the Middle East.
When addressing the EU Ministerial Council on the policy framework for climate and energy for 2020-2030, I welcomed its drive and sense of purpose. I showed that flexibility must be considered in terms of both economies of scale within respective member states, as well as the need for those states to define their most cost-effective transition to a low carbon economy according to their specific circumstances and energy security needs.
What I found lacking in clarity was the proposed Governance Structure of the draft package. With this in mind, I reiterated our request for further information on the scope of the governance process and how it envisages that it would work in practice. Malta considers such clarity as a foundation for upcoming negotiations at an EU level.
We argued that the European Commission should carry out additional assessments of impacts on member states based on principles that would be agreed, while the member states should be fully and actively involved in thedevelopment of such impact assessments. A competitiveness assessment of the framework was also considered imperative.
On its part, Malta supported the Clean Air Programme For Europe that is being proposed. We are confident Malta is already pursuing an ambitious programme for the reduction of emissions from the energy generation sector through the shift to liquid natural gas and notably this will have an impact on emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust.
We are confident that Malta is already pursuing an ambitious programme for the reduction of emissions through the shift to liquid natural gas
The upcoming negotiations on this air policy package should lead to the highest possible ambition levels matched with the right pragmatism to ensure the successful realisation of the objectives through progressive, concrete, feasible and cost-effective measures engaging all the relevant actors and sectors in the implementation of the measures to be adopted.
In the Emirates it emerged very clearly that the green economy is not something strictly linked to OECD countries. On the contrary, it encompasses, thanks to the Unep countries that are still also classified as LDCs.
The support of the wealthy emirates of the United Arab Emirates in facilitating this process is commendable while offering a new lease of life to the beneficiary countries involved.
One could detect a strong sense of political commitment in the endeavours they have been making as well as in the binding measures that they put forward.
In Dubai, I welcomed Unep’s TV invitation to be interviewed on the manner in which Malta is formulating its green economy strategy. It was just as positive an experience to address one of the main sessions on the financial and investment aspects of the green economy, which led to my eventually addressing the concluding plenary on the subject too.
The bilateral discussions with the Environment Minister of the UAE as well as the lengthy meeting held with their highly respected Minister for International Co-Operation and Development, showed deep insights into how the GCC interact among themselves on these forward-looking issues.
The Emirates looks forward to closer Gulf and Mediterranean co-operation and shows deep appreciation of Malta’s understanding and tangible support in EU fora to promote even closer collaboration between the EU and Gulf countries.
While many in Malta remain skeptical of co-operation with these countries in the green economy sector, I would point out one particular instance where the Emirates even have the edge on many European countries – Malta included.
The Dubai Municipality has just created an online database of endangered perennial trees, where trees will get a plaque with digitised barcodes. The first tree to receive such a plaque is believed to be around 100 years old.
A sign placed next to each tree will state that it is protected by law and that no one is allowed to damage, cut or transplant it without permission.
Offenders will face fines ranging from Dh1,000 to Dh50,000. This applies in particular to the ghaf tree that is considered to be the UAE’s national tree.
The barcodes will enable each plaque to form part of a database of the trees’ locations as each barcode will have a global positioning system set of co-ordinates.
These random thoughts show that it pays to think local, European and global when formulating our strategies and ways forward.
Leo Brincat is Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change.