FoE (Malta) welcomes the commitment made by EU leaders to fight climate change. There are three major goals to be achieved by 2020: a reduction of GHG emissions amounting to 20 per cent of 1990 levels; the provision of 20 per cent of EU primary energy from renewable sources of energy, with the corollary of 10 per cent element of biofuels for road transport; an exhortation urging each member State to cut energy waste by 20 per cent.

The lack of sector targets for the overall GHG cuts

makes the provision much weaker than it sounds. For instance, marine and aviation GHG emissions are not usually included in national

GHG accounts. With the aviation sector being the fastest-growing GHG emitter, recently announced plans for European airport expansion could tear the target to shreds.

How will the agreed measures affect Malta? The EU has already warned us that our latest request for CO2 emissions (2.9 million tonnes over 2008–2012) is too high. We have been asked to make a 0.8 million tonne cutback. Our first answer is that we will fight.

The connection to the European grid was again mentioned. The value of that will clearly depend on the Sicilian source of electricity feeding a Malta-Sicily cable. If we purchase high-carbon power, we have a high carbon account.

Changing our generation fuel to natural gas, as Enemalta has being saying lately, would have a significant effect on our GHG emissions. But providing a piped (gas) or tanker (liquid) supply will take time, money and some drive.

On the renewable fraction we, together with Cyprus and Luxembourg, were granted a special status because of size (we may have also slipped in our usual whine that we are a “developing” country). However, the Prime Minister’s “explanation” of our “wind energy” problems can only be described as uninformed – and this when government agencies have plenty of good information on the subject. Land-based wind turbines have been ruled out by diktat; the usual (mistaken) lament that the sea around Malta is too deep for the current offshore technology to cope with was heard again. The only informed statement was the acceptance by the Prime Minister that siting turbines in 45-50 metres of water is not yet feasible.

Unless the official position on wind energy, as well as current incentives for Photovoltaic installation are reviewed, we will remain light years away from any reasonable target fraction of primary energy from renewable sources by 2020.