A national strategy to address climate change has been launched for public consultation.

Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino stressed that, as an EU member state, Malta was bound to reach certain targets by 2020. These included reducing CO2 levels by 20 percent from the level recorded in 1990, and ensuring that 10 percent of energy was generated from clean sources of alternative energy.

The draft strategy was drawn up by the Climate Change Committee. It is open for consultation for eight weeks during which time the government will be presenting it for discussion to the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development. Once the consultation period is over, the government is planning to take the report to Parliament for discussion.

Mr Pullicino hoped that when the time came to actually implement measures what might be harsh, the country would be mature enough to recognise the importance of such measures on an economic and environmental scale.

Committee chairman David Spiteri Gingell gave an overview of the report, which includes 87 recommendations that include: That the government’s planned investments (such as the closing of the Marsa power station and the investment in the Sant’ Antnin recycling plant) remain on track, the setting up a department for climate change within the ministry and the installation of smart electricity meters.

The report also says that the Office of Fair Competition should periodically survey prices of energy efficient technologies. More emphasis should be placed on achieving the necessary culture change in respect of the environment and a National Policy on Environment Education should be drawn up this year.

The complete document can be viewed on www.climatechange.gov.mt