The Tumas Fenech Foundation for Education in Journalism will be holding a national conference on climate change and global warming, and the impact of these phenomena on the Maltese islands.

Details of the conference were given yesterday at the Hilton Hotel, by President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, chairman of the foundation, vice chairman Lino Spiteri and the secretary of the foundation’s board of trustees, Anthony Debono.

The main speaker at the conference will be Michael Zammit Cutajar, the Maltese United Nations ambassador on climate change.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said Malta, by means of Mr Zammit Cutajar, had taken the initiative to make climate change one of the United Nations’ top priorities.

“Climate change and global warming are recurrent and growing phenomena that are influencing the way we live. We need to understand our responsibilities and the threats posed by these phenomena,” said Dr Mifsud Bonnici.

Mr Spiteri said climate change is a matter that could have a number of macro-economic implications.

“This is not just about rising sea levels and I’m sure that Mr Zammit Cutajar will put forward a different argument in this regard,” said Mr Spiteri.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici added that climate change could have strong implications on the Mediterranean and Malta’s tourist industry could be affected negatively.

It is the first time that the Tumas Fenech Foundation for Education in Journalism is organising such a conference, which will also commemorate the 10th anniversary since the death of Tumas Fenech, who contributed to a number of philanthropic activities in his lifetime.

The foundation plans to organise such conferences on issues of national interest on a yearly basis.

The conference will include the participation of a number of NGOs, senior government officials, journalists and university officials, but the organisers said it will not be an academic exercise and the foundation hopes to attract the interest of the public, particularly students.

The conference will take place at the Dolmen Hotel in Qawra on Friday, 3 October between 6.30 and 8.30pm.