This might sound like a Braveheart type of political battle cry of past decades but in actual fact it is the title of an excellent power point presentation that Greenpeace gave to the Euro-Med Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Energy, Environment and Water when we last met.

Ironically the expert who delivered the presentation is mainly responsible for Central and Eastern Europe but Antje Helms, the lady in question, showed a deep understanding of most of the problems that the Mediterranean as a sea and its eco-systems are currently facing.

All those present were in agreement that hers was the most forceful and focused presentation of all those delivered during the day-long conference.

There might be many who rightly or wrongly might disagree with the strategies and tactics resorted to by this organisation but there is no doubt that some of their research constitutes studies that are amongst the most in depth ones that I came across recently.

Their efforts to change attitudes and behaviour as well as to protect and conserve the environment while exposing threats to the said environment and seeking solutions are professional indeed.

Through her presentation one could feel forgiven for almost feeling elated about being reminded of the beauty and rich biodiversity of the sea that surrounds us.

That the Mediterranean Sea has a very high level of biodiversity is no hollow boastful claim.

It is confirmed by the fact that it represents 0.7 per cent of the world’s oceans, 8-9 per cent of known marine species (some 10-12,000 of them) and 28 per cent of endemics.

It also happens to be one of the most complex and diverse high sea regions of the world at large.

But one will be presenting a distorted picture were one to meanwhile ignore the pollution and exploitation underway. We were shown pitiful waste dumps near Dubrovnik as well as the rapid and uncontained building of infrastructure that went way beyond any concept of sustainable development.

Were one to identify the major threats to the Mediterranean Sea these would definitely be the following:

• Pollution

• Oil spills

• Ship traffic

• Ocean dumping

• Noise pollution

• Habitat destruction

• Alien species

• Climate change

As for the major threats to the Med one cannot also ignore the overfishing, the by-catch, the illegal fisheries, the wastefulness and the so-called destructive fishing.

No one is rubbishing fishing – an important industry at that – so long as sustainability is maintained and adhered to.

The case is often made for marine reserves.

The benefits would no doubt include:

• the need to maintain or recover ecosystems and habitats;

• support for fish stock management and fisheries to ensure long-term stability;

• to help sustain fishery yields;

• to contain the spill over to fishing areas;

• support for fisheries’ long-term stability;

• to ensure that no species are driven to extinction;

• and to also guarantee an improved socio-economic outcome for local communities.

Many are making the point nowadays as Greenpeace is doing too that there should be a proposed network of Marine Reserves on the basis of species and habitat distribution. The Balearic Islands and the Sicilian Channel were identified as examples.

In my opinion the hyper activity of the oil industry in the area cannot be dismissed lightly.

According to latest statistics there are some 120 offshore platforms drilling for oil and gas right now in the Mediterranean Sea with around 370m tonnes of oil being transported through the Med per year. That is tantamount to some 20 per cent of global shipping.

We risk ignoring all these startling facts at our own peril.

Beyond Bonn: Climate Change and Energy Security

With the Bonn talks on climate hinting very strongly that little progress has been made on the range of major issues holding back a deal, some even had the feeling that talks went backwards in some areas with the risk that the limited progress represented in the Copenhagen Accord risked being undone.

One aspect which I think cannot be easily overlooked and which the European Commission has recently focused on in some depth is the impact of climate change policies on energy security.

The study in question while taking account of how the EU’s Climate and Energy Package will change the structure of the energy system significantly in the future, also focuses on the interaction between achieving a sustainable energy system and improving energy security.

It must be one of the most well-prepared studies that I recently came across that carried out a quantitative assessment of the interactions between climate policy and energy security.

It also reviewed existing indicators used to assess energy security while analysing various case studies of other policies in various member states to test the robustness of the said framework.

Whatever developments might happen on the local scene we must all realise and accept the fact that it is crucial to be able to access sufficient amounts of energy at an acceptable cost both from an economic and environmental perspective. This is the very same concept that gives rise to the notion of energy security.

Cossiga

Francesco Cossiga will be remembered as an influential but somewhat enigmatic eminent Italian President and politician who left his mark on the political fabric of his country in somewhat unconventional ways.

A cousin of former Communist leader Enrico Berlinguer, he always remained close to internal security matters not only during his term of office as Minister for Home Affairs at the Viminale.

He was in charge during the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades – something that had led to his resignation when Moro was found dead in 1978.

He was also the Minister of Internal Affairs at the time of the Fascist terrorist bombing of the Bologna train station two years later.

As President of the Republic he must have been the first ever to be elected during the first ballot on the basis of more than two thirds of the needed vote.

But perhaps his most meaningful statement was when he had stated that all the Italian political parties, including his own DC and the Italian Communist Party had to take into account the deep currents of change brought about by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.

He once described himself cynically as ‘The fake madman who speaks the truth.’

Cossiga had at one stage admitted his involvement in the setting up of Gladio, a mysterious anti-Communist organisation whose existence has been first revealed by G. Andreotti.

Even when he returned to his activities as Senator after dissolving his own party – the UDR – he worked actively within the Military Affairs Commission.

By association he was often linked with both security matters and the use of information technology applications in these sectors.

A respected but mystical figure, I am convinced that the man has taken many a secret to the grave. But then which eminent politician does not follow such a route?

His laid back low key burial – at his own expressed request – was a signal of the introverted approach of a political figure who at times could prove to be extrovert indeed through some of his controversial statements and pronouncements.

We nevertheless pay our respects to a somewhat ‘colourless’ but at the same time colourful personality.

Italian ambassador Paolo Andrea Trabalza

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the outgoing Italian Ambassador’s meeting with the Foreign and European Affairs Committee since I happened to be away on parliamentary business.

But I feel I must pay tribute to this ambassador – who comes from a family of seasoned diplomats – for his high regard for Italo-Maltese relations, for his engaging personality, sharp wit, frankness and openness and at the same time for the engaging couple he and his wife Maria Ida Bernardini Trabalza proved to be in Maltese society – and not solely in diplomatic circles.

I must confess that there was never a dull moment in any conversation with this interesting and experienced diplomat, while the charm and smooth and diplomatic warmth with which they engaged with others was a telling lesson for many another diplomat or diplomats posted in Malta over the years.

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Leo Brincat is the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development & Climate Change