Utopian cities hover above the sea, away from dirty, crowded coastlines where polluting factories produce and ship supplies to exclusive domed communities.
This imaginary scene appears in the animated 2013 film Boy and the World, showing this summer at a solar-powered mobile outdoor cinema as part of the International Malta Arts Festival.
The film is a cautionary tale of globalisation and deforestation, described in a Washington Post review as “socially relevant but also sweetly entertaining for families”.
“Is this film suitable for children?” someone exclaimed, after watching it.
A famous Maltese blogger once echoed this sentiment:
“Children shouldn’t have to worry about these things, but that’s not how adults see it today. Now, adults think that children should be suitably worried and concerned, and berate them with reasons to be fear-ful, presented in the guise of education and information.
“There is a time and place for everything, and the time and place for worrying about global warming and where the polar bears are going to live is not when you’re 10 years old and in school. When you’re 10 years old and in school, you’re supposed to think that polar bears are cute, and not that polar bears are crying on ice floes because mummy and daddy are driving an SUV.”
Her tongue-in-cheek paroxysm, nearly a decade ago, against “the new religion called environmentalism” (as the blogger put it) was spurred by an exhibition of children’s paintings from the United Nation’s ‘Paint for the Planet’ competition, put on display at St James Cavalier.
But how and when do you tell your child about the challenges their future world is facing today?
Malta was rated last month among the five worst performing European countries. We should instead be leading by example as Europe’s southern outpost, being highly vulnerable to the effects of global warming.
Help them write to their MEP – or plant a tree. The best remedy for anxiety is action
Greenpeace has urged that the phase-out of carbon emissions from shipping should start immediately or the Paris climate agreement goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees “will become swiftly out of reach”.
Aside from health impacts, sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions from worldwide shipping can contribute indirectly to climate change. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency they produce greenhouse gases as when reacting with other chemicals in the air,
A sixth of the world’s vessels sail under the Maltese flag with Malta’s shipping registry the largest in Europe. In April the International Maritime Organisation approved a ban on ships carrying high-sulphur fuel which closed a loophole in a previous law on low-sulphur fuel. New limits on sulphur content for shipping fuel are to come into effect by 2020.
The United Nations shipping agency also agreed to emissions cuts of at least 50 per cent by 2050 compared with 2008 levels. While falling short of more ambitious targets, this has set world shipping on the path toward decarbonisation after years of sluggish progress.
Global impacts of the EU maritime policy are to be discussed at an upcoming summit in Malta this October.
The port of Rotterdam has been investing in infrastructure to supply liquid natural gas to ships, positioning itself as an LNG hub in Europe although many ships still lack storage or refuelling capabilities. Critics view a European push to expand the natural gas infrastructure for its shipping sector as a short-term measure. They see it as “an expensive diversion” since any savings on emissions would “probably be undone by the growth of maritime trade”.
A report by maritime consultancy UMAS says Europe should invest in technologies that would deliver real greenhouse gas savings, including liquid hydrogen bunkering and port-side electrification infrastructure. A 2014 EU directive mandating LNG bunkering must be revised if this is to happen.
It’s hard enough even for adults to take all this on board. So how do you talk to a child about something they will need to cope with in their own lifetime?
Mother of two and communications manager of The Rainforest Alliance, Jungwon Kim’s “sunny approach to climate doom” has earned her the nickname ‘Pollyannapocalypse’.
The advice from the umbrella NGO is to first arm yourself with the facts. Young children may be overwhelmed if you launch straight into the mechanics of melting ice caps.
Start small, using a houseplant to explain how plants “breathe in” the gases we breathe out in a mutually-beneficial cycle. The difference between every day fluctuations (weather) and changes on a longer time scale of 20-30 years (climate) can be explained to older children.
If children (adults too) become worried or frightened, it’s crucial that they feel empowered to make changes.
They could start out by measuring their own carbon footprint and trying to reduce it. Help them write to their MEP – or plant a tree. The best remedy for anxiety is action.
A repeat screening (free entrance) by Solar Cinema at the Chinese Garden, Santa Luċija will start at 8.30pm on August 13.
http://solarcinema.org
Further reading: https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/articles/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-climate-change
https://www.treesforlife.org.au/kids-carbon-calculator