It is madness to build more luxury hotels in a time of soaring inequalities and rapidly escalating existential environmental and climate emergencies, said Greta Thunberg when questioned about her thoughts on Manoel Island development plans during her recent visit to Malta.

In a video posted by Moviment Graffiti and Rakkont Media, the climate activist remarked that such luxury developments are “the last thing the world needs”, as she continued that what the world needs is a system which prioritises people and their well-being above profits. She said that keeping green spaces is one simple and very concrete way of acting in the right direction, “and the fact that we cannot even do those very low-hanging fruits shows us exactly what our politicians and people in power are prioritising, and we cannot let that happen”.

Movement Graffiti stated that Thunberg’s words are an endorsement of the campaign ‘Manoel Island: Post Ghalina’. The campaign reacted to Thunberg’s comments by saying that it is honoured to have had the opportunity to meet the activist during her visit to Malta and to discuss the state of Manoel Island with her. It continued that the people of Malta do not need Thunberg to tell them that green open spaces are needed, but added that it is not a surprise that a “modern icon of environmentalism and social justice” has such views regarding the necessity of public open green spaces.

It concluded by encouraging the public to sign the petition calling for Manoel Island to be turned into a public park, adding that small actions carried out by the masses can have lasting impacts. It stated that 14,000 Maltese residents have signed the petition so far.

Those interested in viewing the petition can find it at the this link.