Friends of the Earth (FoE) Malta is calling on the public to back it as it urges MPs to support a national climate change Bill.

FoE is circulating a petition calling on MPs to vote in favour of the enactment of a law dealing with climate change.

Our country and the EU will have to take the necessary steps to combat climate change within the next five to 10 years.

In its petition, FoE quotes recent statistics, which show that the Maltese electorate is worried about escalating fuel and relative costs such as energy prices and the increase in surcharge rates.

A legislation committing the country to a sustainability plan that tackles emissions and renewable energy will have to define strict parameters if Malta is to reach the targets set by EU regulations.

The environment NGO said that by integrating environment friendly systems in transport and energy and having legally binding commitments to cut emissions year-on-year, carbon emissions could be reduced.

The reduction of EU-wide domestic emissions should be equal to at least 30 per cent by 2020 and 90 per cent by 2050, said FoE.

FoE has been collecting signatures for the petition since February in order to make this a possibility.

It said it fully supports the Climate Change Bill as proposed by Leo Brincat, Labour’s main spokesman for the environment, sustainable development and climate change, in the 9 October parliamentary session.

The petition calls on MPs to consider the full implications of the situation. The Climate Change Bill, in the words of FoE, would be a groundbreaking piece of legislation that all political parties should be proud of.

Concurrently, only two other countries in the EU have taken this important step (UK and Finland).

Urgent action is required, FoE insists and a “no” would be failure to rise to the challenge, especially when one considers a recently signed bilateral accord pledging that all developed countries should cut emissions by 80 to 95 per cent by 2050.

Malta is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Some believe that rising sea levels in the Mediterranean over the next century caused by global warming, threaten to submerge parts of the island.

The petition can be signed online at www.foe

malta.org.