Michael Zammit Cutajar

Members of a high level commission appointed by the government in 2012 have all resigned saying their mandate could not be accomplished due to a lack of financial and staff support, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.

The Guardian of Future Generations commission communicated their resignation in a memorandum sent to Environment Minister Leo Brincat as well as Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on April 10.

They said the establishment of the Guardian was “a bold gesture that was never backed up by adequate support from the government of the day”.

The four-member commission was established by the Sustainable Development Act, but they said no budgetary provisions had ever been made to provide substantive and organisational support for the commission’s work .

It was chaired by Michael Zammit Cutajar, Malta’s former ambassador to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. He told The Sunday Times of Malta: “There is a gap between the vision and its implementation.”

Roberta Lepre

Sustainable development is a complex objective, combining economic, social and environmental dimensions.  “It is difficult to drive from any line ministry. It must be driven from the top,” he added.

Other members were Michael Bonello, former Central Bank Governor, environment and cultural heritage activist Simone Mizzi, and lawyer Roberta Lepre.

“After proposing our work programme… we tried, through your ministry, to use the network of Sustainable Development Focal Points to elicit views from government departments on two issues – financial sustainability and gender mainstreaming – as possible launch pads for debate. The results of these test cases were not persuasive,” they told the government.

They have views on a wide range of topics, they added, including water, transport and financial sustainability in relation to an ageing population. Social issues such as the empowerment and integration of disabled people, and the integration of migrants were also in consideration.

Michael Bonello

“For the Guardian to go beyond top-of-the-head commentary on such topics into serious analysis and innovative recommendations would require both research assistance and capacity for outreach. This need is what underlies our frustration at the lack of financial and staff support,” said.

The members all worked on a voluntary basis. They told government that they had been left to their own resources and felt unable to do justice to the Guardian’s mandate.

Speaking to this newspaper, the former chairman said: “It is difficult to push for the interests of future generations in a democracy.  Future generations have no vote.  Cross-party support is needed.”

Mr Brincat told The Sunday Times of Malta that within three days he had e-mailed the chairman asking the members to reconsider their resignation to give the government an opportunity to review legislation within a specified timeframe, while also undertaking to increase the budget.

Simone Mizzi.

This was confirmed by Mr Zammit Cutajar who also noted there was no follow up by the minister to this e-mail.

Mr Brincat pointed out that when the Act was approved and the Guardian set up, the former administration had made no financial provision for the Sustainable Development National Strategy.

The former members suggested placing the function of the Guardian under the President’s remit.