With reference to the article ‘Malta drops eight places in UN sustainability ranking’ (October 10) and the editorial of October 11, it is pertinent to highlight that such report merits a more in-depth analysis which considers a broader context of facts.
The annual assessment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) performance for 156 countries published by the United Nations regularly, at a first glance shows that for base year 2017 Malta ranked in the 30th place – an apparent drop of eight places from the previous base year.
The SDG dashboard index report is accompanied by another two reports, which describe the methodology undertaken for such analysis and also a more detailed SDG profile of each assessed country.
There are 230 targets for the 17 SDGs. The methodological reports highlight that different targets are assessed in different base years. In fact, 20 indicators out of a total of 88, present in last year’s report, were either replaced or newly added to this year’s analysis. This means that a like-with-like comparison is not strictly speaking correct. In fact this is highlighted in the methodological report.
Specifically on this latest report, the indicator used to score SDG10, regarding inequality, within and among countries, was not available for Malta within the cut-off dates of such assessment and a zero score was therefore granted by the author.
The score of zero that was assigned meant all Malta’s endeavours in promoting equality were not taken into account.
In fact, this index only became available on July 31, that is, 20 days after its publication. It is considered by Malta to be a gross omission that skews our overall ranking considerably.
Malta is convinced that had the methodology adopted in the assessment involved more communication with the authorities for statistics at regional or even national level, our ranking would have been much better than what the report eventually sought to reflect.
On a positive note, the report confirms Malta is on the right track on most of the SDGs. It scores very high on the eradication of poverty which is, however, brought down by a low score assigned for ‘zero hunger’.
The strong economic growth has also featured positively in the ranking of SDG 8 (scoring 89) in relation to sustainable economic growth and productive employment.
A positive ranking was given when it comes to illiteracy (SDG4) and access to clean energy (SDG7). The efforts being done by Malta when it comes to climate change were also positively recognised with SDGs 11 and 13 achieving a higher ranking than last year.
The report confirms Malta is on the right track on most of the sustainable development goals
SDG17, revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development also ranked well (65.4). It acknowledges the annual budgetary commitment the government takes each year towards the betterment of health education and social well-being.
Challenges remain as with most countries. We need to shore up our efforts on industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG9) although it has been acknowledged that Malta is on the right track to achieve the outlined targets for this SDG.
However more investment needs to be done in research and innovation to bridge the current gap.
Malta is performing better on SDGs 14 and 15, relating to the oceans and biodiversity. One must recognise the efforts made in the area: during 2017, Malta had 35 per cent of its marine territory listed as being protected.
The authorities are working on the management plans and are on track with regards to timelines within EU obligations. Besides, we monitor the status of our waters, irrespective of if they are protected areas or not – hence we are definitely on the right track.
The low score in the SDG 2 indicator on nutrition is mainly a reflection of our high rate of obesity. The report ranks Malta on the low side on responsible consumption and production (SDG12).
Waste management and recycling is a core element of this goal with several ambitious targets assigned to it, where some of them have to be achieved by 2020.
The end of the month will see the launch of the national rollout of the separate collection of organic waste and, then, later on this year, we should see concrete developments in the way the bottle refund scheme will be managed.
Cognisant of the efforts required, government has also set up another entity to create stewardship for Malta’s transition to a more circular economy.
Malta’s commitment is unrelenting. We recently launched a vision document for sustainable development with a horizon of 2050. This vision is underpinned by the SDGs themselves.
Let us not forget Malta is one of a few countries having dedicated sustainable development legislation. We are confident that, progressively, our performance will continue to be stronger and our actions will be reflected in such performance.
José Herrera is Minister for the Environment.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece