In the forward to Vision 2050 both Prime Minister Robert Abela and Economy Minister Silvio Schembri emphasise that the country needs a long-term vision. It is good that they have taken up this view, at last. Better late than never.
In the methodology section of the Vision 2050 consultation document, we are informed that 1,800 individual initiatives were reviewed. This exercise led to the consolidation of 90 macro-initiatives into a unified framework reflecting national priorities. We are further informed of the extensive consultations which were carried out. The whole process was also monitored by an inter-ministerial steering committee.
Notwithstanding these extensive consultations, for some mysterious reason, so far unexplained, climate change has slipped through. It has not been identified as an important fundamental element which needs to be factored into the national vision purporting to plan for the next generation. In my opinion this is not an error. It betrays the prejudices leading the consultation process. This needs to be underlined. In my opinion, as a result of this deliberate omission the proposed Vision 2050 is unrealistic.
The Vision 2050 consultation document, we are informed, "seeks to ensure that policies are aligned with both current realities and future challenges and opportunities." Yet climate change is not identified in any way in any part of the document. It is ignored and is not considered as being a part of the reality addressed by Vision 2050.
Irrespective of what the drafters of the consultation document think, climate change is certainly a present-day reality and definitely a future challenge which must be an integral part of Vision 2050, if the consultation document is to make any sense at all for the island state.
As readers are aware, the ten hottest years on record have all occurred in the last decade. 2024 was the worst on record, so far. It was also the year when the threshold limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, agreed to at the Paris Climate Summit, was breached. These have been ten years of climatic disasters spread globally. Extreme heat, drought and flooding have been the source of havoc all around the world. This has contributed to an increased spreading of misery, hunger and devastation at each of the four corners of the earth.
The pledges agreed to at the Paris Climate Summit in 2015 have not been honoured by the international community. The exit of the United States of America from the Paris Climate agreement adds to the ever-increasing climatic problems. This signifies that sooner, rather than later, matters will get considerably worse.
Watching the news, on a regular basis we are continuously informed as to the increasing rate of the melting of the accumulated polar ice. Icebergs are detaching from glaciers and melting in the oceans at an increased rate. This is slowly contributing to a sea-level rise all around the globe. It is a reality we must face, even if all of a sudden, all pledges at the Paris Climate Summit are honoured overnight. Even in such an unlikely scenario, it will take considerable time to reverse the damage which has been accumulating over a considerable time.
Ignoring climate change, Vision 2050 proposes the possible smart use of land and sea as one of the four strategic pillars of the vision. The drafters have apparently not realised that while they envisage the smart use of land reclamation, possibly the Maltese islands would be decreasing in size even before we start contemplating how and where to reclaim the sea around us. Sea-level rise is a reality we must face. Low lying islands, elsewhere, are already facing this reality.
A primary climate change challenge in the years to come will be a rising sea level as a result of which the coastline of the Maltese islands may recede inwards at a rate which is so far unknown. The coast, we may remember, is home to most of our maritime and tourism infrastructural facilities, all of which are consequently under threat. Even residential areas developed close to the sea level will be impacted. This would also include most sandy beaches as well as the residential areas at l-. Impacts could also move towards inland low-lying areas such as Qormi, parts of which are developed at almost sea level. The Marsa Sports Club would be an additional casualty.
The impacts of climate change are substantially more than a sea-level rise. Sea-level rise is maybe one of the most visible of its impacts. In addition, we have also to factor in and consider the impacts resulting from the tropicalisation of our climate on agriculture, on our health and also on tourism. I will deal with these in future articles.
These and other additional impacts which will slowly unfold, could be devastating, yet Vision 2050 ignores climate change as a present-day reality and a future challenge. Vision 2050 makes some minor references to the generation of renewable energy, in the process also sprinkling some references to the green economy, to sustainability and to future generations. The consultation document than proceeds to be developed at a tangent, far removed from being compatible with addressing the climate change reality and its impacts.
This is a basic flaw in the consultation document which needs to be addressed if it is to be taken seriously. Malta deserves something much better than the vision on offer.
We need a vision that does not just pay lip service to the environment. On the contrary the country needs to be more respectful of nature and natural forces. This is the alignment with reality which is required in an alternative Vision 2050.
Nature has already fired its warning shots: we continue to ignore them at our peril.
An architect and civil engineer, the author is a former Chairperson of ADPD-The Green Party in Malta. [email protected] , http://carmelcacopardo.wordpress.com