Parliament has voted to add an amendment forwarded by Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change José Herrera which will add, as an amendment to the Climate Action Act, a declaration of a climate emergency to a motion tabled by the Nationalist Party.

The final vote will take place on Tuesday 22 October.

The motion tabled by the Nationalist Party calls for the setting up of this committee which will have the responsibility to keep Malta on track with its aims in the fight against climate change.

The PN motion, which was proposed by MPs Jason Azzopardi, David Agius, Frederick Azzopardi, and Robert Cutajar, states that this committee will have, amongst others, the power to nominate a person to act as the Superintendent for Climate Change.

MPs Jason Azzopardi, Byron Camilleri, Robert Cutajar, Edward Zammit Lewis, Godfrey Farrugia, Carmelo Abela, Karl Gouder, Alex Muscat, Claudette Buttigieg and David Agius gave their thoughts during the debate on the motion put forward by the Nationalist Party.

Whilst the Nationalist Party MPs spoke in favour of their own motion and pointed out the various groups and organisations that agreed with their motion, the Labour Party MPs overwhelmingly criticised it for mistaken scientific statements it makes, and the ignoring of the Climate Action Act passed in 2015.

They also maintained that there was no need to set-up a permanent parliamentary committee or a new Superintendent position because they both already existed in Malta.

 

SDM, KNZ & KSU call for Emergency Declaration

Prior to the debate, a number of youth-centred organisations voiced their support for the declaring of a Climate Change Emergency.

In a statement, the Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU) expressed its concern on the current environmental and climate issue, going on to note that “Climate Change has been on the national agenda for several decades, yet very limited legal actions which contribute positively to any change have been taken”.

“We, therefore, ask that the House of Representatives reaches out and takes a first step in the right direction by declaring a climate emergency.”

They did, however, point out that this would only be the first step, and that declarations are not actions and must be backed up with concrete policy and action to truly address this problem.

The KSU backed up their call for a declaration by pointing out that “temperatures are already beginning to rise, and the world is experiencing huge losses in biodiversity and changes in weather patterns”.

“The current national situation of the unsustainable increase of cars has also become a pertinent problem, with traffic constantly on the increase and more cars being added on the roads on a daily basis with a significant impact on air quality and public health.”

“Without the improvement in the current climate crisis, our quality of life is compromised and will be even worse for future generations. We must realize the severity of this problem; our health is essential and should be given priority.

“We urge that this issue be dealt with urgently and concretely, with a spirit of national and international cooperation which can deliver the much-needed results to combat climate change.”

Studenti Demokristjani Malta (SDM) also affirmed their support towards declaring a Climate Emergency, explaining that as a political student organisation, they believe that it is up to their generation to change the way we do things and safeguard our environment.

“We can't continue to disregard the degradation of the environment and the earth's natural resources. We must take concrete action.”

The Malta Youth Council (KNZ) wrote directly to the Prime Minister, asking that their letter be read in Parliament on the day, and pointing out that youths had appealed for this declaration in the very room they were sitting.

They noted that various Members of Parliament from both sides had agreed with the importance of the issue and said that they would pass on the appeal to their colleagues.

The appeal, they continue, would be the first step amongst many more, insisting that partisan politics must not divide us and that we must look to the national interest and the interest of future generations.