World leaders and environment ministers met in Nairobi, Kenya between 11 and 15 March for the fourth United Nations Environment Assembly bearing the theme, “Innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production.”

Addressing the Assembly, Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change José Herrera affirmed that, as committed in the third UN’s Environment Assembly, Malta is actively looking for innovative solutions and is in fact working towards the introduction of the Beverage Container Refund Scheme by the end of 2019. Minister Herrera also confirmed that Malta is stepping up its efforts and is committed to issue a strategy that will tackle more single use plastic items.

This strategy is intended to tackle the 10 most single-used plastics that were identified as a major threat to our marine environment. This strategy will include a phasing-out approach in eliminating some plastic products whilst incentivizing more environment friendly alternatives. Such strategy will also tackle the core problem of litter generated on our beaches and shores. We need to ensure that less waste finds itself on our beaches together with more effective management and enforcement.

Malta was also one of the signatories of the Ministerial Declaration of the 2019 United Nations Environment Assembly whereby in principle signatory countries reaffirmed, “that poverty eradication, changing unsustainable and promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production and protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development are the overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sustainable development.”