Human nature has always been preoccupied with the future. However, at times we tend not to realise that we mould a substantial part of the future through our actions today. Unfortunately, sometimes our actions today and the future we want point towards completely different directions.
Our future is necessarily a common one, as explained in the 1987 report of the UN Commission on Environment and Development - the Brundtland Report - aptly entitled Our Common Future. Drafted by an international commission led by former Norwegian Socialist Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, this report placed sustainable development on the global discussion platform, emphasising that we are responsible not only for each other's welfare today but also for that of future generations. We need to consider carefully that our actions today have a considerable impact and can possibly limit the choices that future generations will have to make.
The impact of our behaviour on the climate is one such example. The impact of climate change is causing havoc in weather patterns and as a consequence is consequently also impacting on all areas of human activity. The patterns and intensity of rainfall is unpredictable. Our road infrastructure has never coped, and now it is getting worse.
Earlier this week The Guardian reported that the planet has just a five per cent chance of reaching the Paris climate goals. Rather than avoiding warming up by more than 2oC by the end of the century, it is more likely that Mother Earth will heat up to around 5oC above the pre-industrial era.
The predicted consequences are catastrophic. Another report, published in April this year, informed us that there are worrying signs for Greenland ice sheet ,which covers 80 per cent of its 1.7 million square kilometres surface area: it has been observed melting faster than ever before. On its own, this factor could potentially cause a rise of many meters in sea level - as much as seven metres.
This is certainly not the future we want. Any rise in sea level, even if minimal, would threaten the functionability of all coastal areas and facilities. It would also wipe out entire coastal communities and islands worldwide would disappear. It would mean a future of climate-change refugees being pushed to higher ground by rising sea-level.
This will not only have an impact on low-lying islands in the Pacific Ocean: it will also hit closer to home. Consider the places along the Maltese coast: Msida, Ta' Xbiex, Pietá, Sliema, Marsaskala, Marsaxlokk, San Pawl il-Baħar, Burmarrad, Birżebbuġa, Marsalforn, Xlendi and many more. Readers will remember the occasional rise in sea-level at Msida. In one such instant - on 11 May last year - the change in sea level was of more than a metre, resulting in the roads along the coast being flooded. This is known as a seiche (locally referred to as Il-Milgħuba) and was reported by this newspaper under the heading 'Phenomenon: sea-water level rises in Msida, traffic hampered'. It also occurs at St George's Bay in Birżebbuġa - on a small scale but on a regular basis - causing quite a nuisance to car users.
Now this phenomenon only occurs temporarily, yet still substantially affects traffic movements when it does. Imagine if the rise in sea level is of a permanent nature.
Large parts of our coast are intensively developed - with roads and residential properties as well as substantial sections of the tourism infrastructure and facilities. In addition, there is also the infrastructure of our ports which we have developed as a maritime nation over the centuries. All this points to the need for adequate planning to implement urgent adaptation measures in order to reinforce Malta's coastal infrastructure. If we wait too long, it may be too late.
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