The article 'Malta limits EU action on climate change, (The Sunday Times, January 31) contained numerous inaccuracies. The article seemed to suggest that Malta was partly responsible for curbing the EU's action in pledging ambitious targets to limit climate change.
The EU's position as reiterated at the European Council of December 2009 was a 20 per cent emission reduction target when compared with 1990 levels.
The EU was ready to move to a 30 per cent reduction provided that other developed countries committed themselves to comparable emission reductions and that developing countries contributed adequately according to their respective capabilities.
Therefore, the move to 30 per cent was always a conditional offer intended to entice other parties into pledging comparably ambitious reduction targets.
I think it is fair to say that the 'Copenhagen accord', which was noted but not adopted by the conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), fell considerably short of the EU's expectations.
As things stand, it is undeniable that the comparability condition which would justify raising the EU emission reduction target to 30 per cent has not yet been satisfied. Without comparable pledges from major emitters such as the US, China, Brazil and India, the EU's efforts would be in vain.
Moreover, in the absence of a global effort to reduce emissions, moving to 30 per cent would not only be unjustified but might also harm the EU's competitiveness.
The talks referred to in the article are the discussions relating to how the EU target should appear in the EU submission to the UNFCCC Secretariat.
Malta, together with the large majority of EU member states, has kept to what was originally agreed to by the EU in the hope that the other parties will choose to rise to this global challenge and pledge comparable emission reduction targets.
Rest assured that should the conditionality inherent in the EU offer be fulfilled, Malta would be among the first to support a rise to an overall EU target of 30 per cent.
The EU's overall reduction target will be reached through the combined reduction made by sectors falling under the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS).
This currently covers large, stationary, greenhouse gas-emitting industrial installations and those sectors falling under the so-called Effort Sharing Decision which lays down individual member states' emissions targets from transport, agriculture, solvent use and industrial processes. In this respect, Malta has been allowed a five per cent increase of emissions compared to 2005 levels.
Locally, the government is actively working on the implementation of the 'National Strategy for Policy and Abatement Measures relating to the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions', which suggests 96 mitigation actions. Moreover, the draft 'National Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change' will be finalised in the coming months.
Everyone must understand that the implementation of actions such as the setting up of an incinerator to generate clean energy from waste, and investment in wind farm technology, is indispensable if we are to satisfy our emissions reduction targets. The government cannot win this challenge on its own. We must work together. The responsibilities and, on the flip side, the opportunities that this challenge offers are for all to share.
Editor's note:
The minister failed to point out any "inaccuracies" in the original article, which followed international reports that Malta was one of four countries that prevented the EU from committing to a more ambitious 30 per cent emission reduction.