Recent consultation meetings with the Environment Ministry and other stakeholders such as the Malta Environment and Planning Authority have shown one thing very clearly – the public still needs more education to prevent the degradation of our environment.

Many still seem to think that disposing of our waste and keeping Malta clean and tidy is safeguarding our environment. This is quite simply not the case.

There are many challenges against us. On a local level, we have to combat the depletion of our groundwaters. More must be done to allow the water table to recharge, and on the other hand, we must also make sure that the water that still flows is not contaminated by pesticides or heavy metals.

There are many other issues at stake, such as soil erosion, which is taking place all over our Western coastline. Do people know about this? Do they know what harm they might be causing on a day out in the countryside? The answer is again – negative.

Figures for the dumping of construction waste have skyrocketed since 2003, despite the government’s efforts to fill in extinct quarries with rubble. Yet, on the other hand, the government has implemented the polluter pays principle by transferring an Lm1.4 million cost onto the polluter rather than the taxpayer.

Do people know these things? Do they know the harm caused by the packaging our food comes in? Do they know how many trees they are indirectly responsible of killing through paper use? There has been improvement in many sectors, it must be said. But the fundamental issue at stake here is education and information. Perhaps, as the ministry itself has realised, it is time for an information bombardment on the public.

Then again, there are global problems which are out of our control, such as climate change.

This is something that is affecting the whole world, something that could potentially turn our island into a barren desert rock in centuries to come. But again, do people realise this? Or more importantly is that they do not know? Or is it that they simply do not care? Mr Pullicino said he was recently in Canada for the Climate Change summit where the authorities were distributing booklets of how people can individually reduce carbon dioxide emissions by one ton per year. He said that his staff are transposing the information in the book to the realities of Malta after which it will be distributed. This is a very good idea indeed. But much more is needed in this regard.

The sad thing about the whole situation is that with degradation of the environment, it is not individuals that suffer, it will be whole generations of the future. It is our society, this present one that is alive today that is ruining the earth. Many might say that what is being written here is far fetched. It is not.

It is one of many eventualities that might befall this planet if we do not buck our ideas up. On a positive note, there was good news on our air quality. Progress has been registered due to switching to low sulphur oil for energy generation and cleaner vehicle fuels such as biodiesel and unleaded petrol.

We must have a culture change. People need to realise that the environment is not to be safeguarded only for financial gain.

It is our duty to try and preserve it as best we can and for each of us to do our individual bit in trying to prevent further damage and hopefully eventually reverse the trend. Our national energy consumption is converging towards our production levels, when the two should be dropping away from each other. This will only be achieved by further effort from our individual selves.