Michael Zammit Cutajar was bestowed with Germany’s Order of Merit for his outstanding achievements in climate change. Photo: Paul Zammit Cutajar

The construction industry should move from quantity to quality or risk the irreversible loss of landscape and coastline, the Guardian of Future Generations warns.

Michael Zammit Cutajar said the march of new buildings should be refocused on decaying cities and shoddy properties that were crying out for renovation.

Malta’s former ambassador to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change also urged politicians to work on long-term solutions that lasted beyond electoral mandates.

“This is not any critique of any government, but an appeal to the political class to take a break from polemics and put their heads together to build consensus on long-term objectives for the common good,” he told The Sunday Times of Malta.

Should we be looking at immigration as a way of keeping the country young?

Mr Zammit Cutajar, who was appointed by former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi and reappointed by a Labour government, is particularly worried by pressing matters such as the island’s water scarcity and traffic congestion.

He took the opportunity to highlight these concerns on Friday when German Ambassador Klaus-Peter Brandes best-owed him with Germany’s Order of Merit for his outstanding achievements in climate change and for fostering relations between the two countries.

Germany’s Order of Merit is awarded to German nationals and foreigners for an outstanding political, socioeconomic or intellectual performance as well as for eminent social, charitable or humanitarian merits for Germany.

This is his second prestigious award in 18 months, after he received one of France’s highest decorations, Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur, in June 2012. He was chosen for his “dedication to the field of climate change and his relentless engagement in negotiations at the UN”.

Mr Zammit Cutajar, 73, said receiving the award was a pleasant surprise, especially since he had left Bonn more than 10 years ago, albeit having kept in touch with former colleagues.

Mr Brandes said his government shared the assessment of former UN secretary general Kofi Annan that Mr Zammit Cutajar had built the most efficient and highly reputed Climate Change Secretariat during his tenure of office in Bonn. And his devotion to this cause did not end after he left.

“I quote from an African proverb: ‘If you want to go fast, you go alone. If you want to go far you go together.’ You achieved both – you went fast and you came far,” Mr Brandes said.

Mr Zammit Cutajar used this proverb as a hook to focus his thoughts on future generations and urge Maltese politicians to work together to address their political inconveniences.

“While the issue of new buildings is in our faces – my flat used to have a seaview – other issues are around the corner. Among them is financial sustainability for future generations,” he said.

He pointed out that while the island should be proud of being successful economically, there was a price to pay for this and within a few years Malta would become a net contributor and would no longer receive EU handouts.

“For the first time we will have nobody to hold our hand, are we prepared for this? These issues risk being swept under the carpet of political inconvenience – we need to prepare for these challenges,” he said.

Mr Zammit Cutajar also questioned whether Malta was ready to meet the challenge of an ageing population by funding sustainable pensions and health services, while providing residential care for the elderly and disabled.

“Should we be looking at immigration as a way of keeping the country young, the same way the US and Canada did?

“These are the questions of the future, which are politically difficult to deal with but can be looked at together.”