Former Nationalist Minister Jesmond Mugliett on Tuesday advocated a change in the government’s direction and society’s thinking on sustainable development.

The government should see which measures and legal frameworks should be adopted to have a smoother implementation

Speaking during the debate in second reading on the Sustainable Development Bill, Mr Mugliett said that the Bill set challenges which the government had to meet. While in the past, the government boasted about the number of cars on the road as a sign of economic growth, today it was seeking to reduce the number of vehicles. This showed how the mentality had changed.

Sustainable development also implied challenges such as implementation and environmental integration. Mr Mugliett said the government should see which measures and legal frameworks should be adopted to have a smoother implementation. The frameworks to be introduced should cater for amendments to policy instruments.

One project which had to be implemented but was never affected was the project of green budgeting. The minister responsible had claimed he had no clear definition of “green jobs” and that was the reason why no statistics existed.

Mr Mugliett said that a definition existed and could be found in ETC’s 2007 Annual Report. However, five years later, one could not obtain statistics on how many green jobs existed because the ministry was unable to identify them. All this showed lack of will to succeed.

It was also unfortunate that many strategies had been enacted in the past but were never followed through because governments gave up. He said all these strategies contained relevant indicators on ’s improvements in sustainable development. But these indicators were abandoned.

Mr Mugliett joined Din l-Art Ħelwa’s Martin Scicluna in criticising the fact that the onus of sustainable development was being put on the Office of the Prime Minister. It made more sense to have an independent commission which would have greater capabilities to include the private sector.

Moreover, he said, the private sector should be included more often because many organisations wanted to contribute.

Interjecting, Environment Minister Mario de Marco said the Bill integrated various governmental entities in the creation of sustainable development and, while the private sector was not included, a guardian for future generations was being introduced.

Continuing, Mr Mugliett retorted that one still did not know how the guardian for future generations would work. The strategy for sustainable development could not be based on government entities alone. How was government intending to include the private sector? Moreover, he called for strengthening the implementation and monitoring mechanisms in the Bill.

Concluding, Mr Mugliett said that although Malta could not change the climate, it still had to do its part. A focused agency should be introduced and all sectors of society should work for sustainable development.