Two very positive environmental measures were announed on Wednesday – a project aimed at improving the Environment and Resources Authority’s regulatory and enforcement capacities, and a multi-million-euro project aimed at cutting  the emissions caused by berthed cruise liners by up to 90%.

Regulations are not there to look good on paper, Environment Miniter Aaron Farrugia said on Tuesday, when launching the ERA project, “they are there to be implemented effectively, without fear or favour.”

It is high time that the environmental authorities in Malta are given more powers to enforce environmental laws. Too often have we seen environmental crimes, such as illegal development, the defacing of valleys and the destruction of protected trees go unpunished.

The only problem is that, when it comes to the last two examples, the government itself is the chief perpetrator. One hopes that ERA will use its newly-found powers not only to enforce the laws when these are broken by us common mortals, but also when environmental crimes are committed by government entities.

One would also hope that the Gozo Minister, Clint Camilleri, follows Farrugia’s example with regard to enforcement on hunting illegalities.

The second initiative, a €50 million project launched by Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg, will see the installation of facilities to provide electricity to cruise liners and ro-ro ships berthed at the Grand Harbour – one of the most scenic yet polluted spots in the Maltese islands. The area is polluted not only by visiting cruise ships but also by surrounding heavy industry and arterial roads.

A cruise ship berthed at port for eight hours produces an estimated 1.2 tonnes of nitrogen dioxide, the equivalent of 300,000 cars driving from Cirkewwa to Marsaxlokk.

To put things in perspective, there were 359 cruise liner visits at the Grand Harbour in 2019.

Infrastructure Malta, the agency leading the project, said that, within 20 years, Malta will have saved up to €375 million in costs linked to the measurable consequences of air pollution, such as impacts on health, the natural environment, infrastructure and agriculture. This is great news when considering that respiratory diseases are among the worst killers in Malta.

The irony is, however, that this project is being led by the same ministry and entity that are currently widening most of Malta’s major roads to make them able to take more vehicles. This at a time when the number of registered cars in Malta is increasing by an average of 12,000 a year.

It is good that the government is working to reduce the pollution generated by cruise liners. It was also a very positive step forward to close down the heavy fuel oil plant at the Delimara power station. But what about the emissions generated by the ever-growing number of cars in Malta? Does this form of pollution not also cause respiratory disease and lead us to pay millions a year in additional healthcare expenses? Would it not also be a good idea to put some actual effort in reducing the number of polluting cars and work harder on switching to electric vehicles?

Like we said earlier, this initiative is a welcome step – one that the NGOs who have been flagging the issue of cruise liner pollution for years will surely endorse – but we must also make sure that we are not solving one problem while making another one worse.