The environment is now at the forefront of the national discourse at the present moment perhaps more than it has ever been in the past. 

From rampant, unchecked development to pressing for a referendum on the controversial spring hunting season, from the country’s slacking on the renewable energy front to the genetically modified organism issue, and from air quality to Outside Development Zone policies and much more – all matters environmental seem to be taking centre stage lately.

While we in the media have played a certain role in this new and heightened awareness, we cannot claim the credit for this new heightened sense of environmental awareness sweeping over the country. It is through the hard work of many of the country’s environmental NGOs and their dogged pursuit of environmental justice in all its forms that has well and truly raised awareness.

It is through the efforts of many of these relentless volunteers that attitudes in this country are changing, and changing for the better. But it will only be when there is a critical mass of environmentalists that politicians will stop the lip service and truly heed what is being demanded of them – to safeguard what is left of this small country’s countryside and to work to actively improve citizens’ quality of life in the way that only the proper protection of the environment can do.

And yesterday’s protest in Valletta drove the point home. Hundreds of people braved the threat of rain and turned out in droves to stand up to be counted and to make their voices heard. This is exactly the type of civic action that will force politicians to listen to their pleas.

And perhaps they already are. Many see it as no small coincidence that the government – through the Malta Environment and Planning Authority – recently launched a high profile crackdown on one of the country’s most notorious developers on the virtual eve of this demonstration, which had originally been planned for 30 November.

Their demands were multiple, naturally so given that several environmental NGOs of different ilk were involved, but their central demands are the same – better air quality, more nature and less concrete.

There were no political connotations and no ulterior motives behind yesterday’s protest march, this was a case of civil society making itself heard – a worthy cause and one that we would like to see much more of. Unless the public makes its voice heard, politicians will not respond.

Concerned citizens, unprompted by political concerns and out of a genuine concern for the air that we breathe and the environment that surrounds us sent another a clear message to the powers that be. It is hoped that it will be heeded.

Overall, the country’s environmental lobby has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, and the government, and the Opposition for that matter, will ignore this growing movement at their peril.

The main political parties would do well to take note of what the environmentalist are saying. There was a time when their numbers were negligible when it came to the grand electoral stakes, but those times are now behind us. 

The environmental lobby as a whole has grown significantly in recent years and it is only a matter of time before their clout grows enough for them to well and truly begin to set the political agenda in Malta, as has been the case in so many other countries. If their messages are not heeded, one fine Election Day, maybe not the next but eventually, one or both of the big parties could very well be in for an unpleasant surprise.

The world over, and Malta is by no stretch of the imagination any different, the political class is quite content to preserve the status quo. It is, after all, in the establishment’s interest to retain a system that is beneficial to it, and keeping the masses as silent as possible about the real ills affecting their country.

But it is only when the public makes its voice heard loud and clear and en masse, as they did yesterday, that politicians will be compelled to respond.