In his address to students at the inauguration of the new academic year, the Rector of the University of Malta, Prof Alfred Vella, spoke about the importance of sustainability and he encouraged students to make sustainability a cornerstone of their learning. He said that the country’s performance in this area leaves much to be desired and is reported to have said that this performance is far from perfect A’s.

Prof Vella’s address to the University students is very apt as they will be the first victims of an unsustainable approach. Then it will be the turn of those who are still in their childhood and finally of future generations yet to be born. It is also very apt as it reflects the thinking of the head of the highest academic institution of the country, an institution that should spur in depth thinking in Malta on critical issues. And sustainability is certainly a critical issue.

The University Rector’s address focussed on environmental sustainability, referring to the waste we generate, the low level of renewable electricity generation, the high level of ‘water scarcity’, and little amount of physical space that is not built up or used up for other purposes. He also spoke about the lack of attention that we give as a country to environmental sustainability and the impact the loss of such sustainability would have on our quality of life.

I link this issue to our economy. The lack of environmental sustainability will eventually lead to a lack of economic sustainability. The economy may make short-term gains when, through its development, it causes harm to the environment, but will eventually scar the country for decades and will take significant amounts of money to set it right again. This will in turn impact the economy negatively.

The economy may make short-term gains when, through its development, it causes harm to the environment, but will eventually scar the country for decades

Even if we were to tackle just the issues mentioned by Prof Vella, we will appreciate how each of these issues could all have a severe impact on our economy. Our poor record for managing waste, especially in recycling and composting it, will demand more and more space, which we simply do not have.

Our water scarcity makes us dependent on the desalination plants. The real cost of water desalination is very high and our water bills do not necessarily cover the true cost of the water we consume. What if one of those plants breaks down? How prepared are we for that eventuality?

Our inability to exploit fully renewable energy sources also increases the cost of producing electricity. Have we ever worked out the viability of obtaining solar power from the Sahara desert through an interconnector? This is not to mention the continual erosion of open spaces in Malta.

Should we work out some possible scenarios if something goes horribly wrong? What would be the impact on our economy? Can we mitigate any of the risks? Can we work towards greater sustainability?

We can expand the discussion beyond our shores and take as an example climate change. We may wish to believe that this is a natural phenomenon as we go through weather cycles. However studies do show that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than it has been for hundreds of millennia. This concentration is evidently man made and will change economies on a long-term basis.

For example in the past I have written about how the melting of ice in the Arctic is making it possible to navigate from Europe to China through the North, rather than through the Mediterranean. If this continues to develop, it may signal the end of the Mediterranean as a crucial passageway for international shipping, with consequences on our economy.

We need to appreciate that when we speak of sustainability, be it environmental, economic, social, or cultural, there is a democratic deficit. Future generations do not have a vote and so it requires the willingness of present generations to ensure that the interests of future generations are well catered for. We can ignore the issue; but we shall be damned by our children and grandchildren for doing so.

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