According to a new report by the European Environment Agency – the so-called Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report – greenhouse gas emissions across the European Union dropped over the past 30 years. But not in Malta.
Malta is one of six EU countries to register an increase in greenhouse gases compared to 1990. The agency’s report found that, between 1990 and 2017, Malta’s total emissions grew by 2.3 per cent while the EU as a whole saw a tenfold drop of 23 per cent.
Another report in early May listed Malta as having the second highest increase in emissions in the year 2017/18. According to this report, Malta registered a massive increase of 6.7 per cent. Greenhouse gas emissions, which are the prime cause of global climate change, are influenced by such factors as climatic conditions, economic growth, population size and transport and industrial activities. In Malta, these emissions are largely attributable to the heavy traffic. Malta is the only EU country not to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, which are directly linked to fuel combustion in cars. While most EU member states have been cleaning up their air, in 2017, Malta registered a substantial increase of 12.8 per cent, the highest in Europe.
This country has failed to take the steps the majority of other EU member states have been taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including a growing share in use of renewable energy, use of less carbon-intensive fuels and improvements in energy efficiency.
Malta has become the dirty man of Europe at the very moment when many advanced EU countries are responding to the grass-roots movement, Extinction Rebellion, which is pressing for urgent solutions to the “climate breakdown and ecological collapse that is threatening the planet”.
While Malta’s contribution to carbon emissions on a global scale is, of course, minute, it still has a moral responsibility to acknowledge the scale of the crisis from global warming and to join other countries in enacting policies to reduce carbon emissions drastically. Moreover, as well as being a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement 2015, which is legally binding, there is a commitment and responsibility as an EU member to meet the set targets.
The European Commission has warned Malta it could face infringement proceedings if it continues to lag behind in meeting its 2020 renewable energy targets. Brussels has previously highlighted that Malta was the country in the EU that was farthest from meeting its targets. It warned that if Malta did not make efforts to reach the targets it could face legal action. Huge compliance penalties could kick in post-2020, making Malta’s present inaction expensive as well as embarrassing.
While it is acknowledged that this is a highly complex matter, it is also an inescapable fact that Malta has had several years in which to come up with answers. Other countries have made considerable progress in the same period, and the technology is now largely tried and tested. The increased use of biofuels or photovoltaic and solar energies needs to be pursued with greater political drive, backed up by financial incentives.
But the crux of the issue lies in tackling the excessive use of cars. This can only be achieved through the exercise of political will and the concomitant readiness to accept short-term pain and political unpopularity for vital greater long-term gain.
This is a Times of Malta print editorial