ADPD-The Green Party said Thursday that environmental duties are already established in the Maltese Constitution - what is needed is enforcement.

The party was referring to the private member's Bill on entrenching environmental rights in the Constitution presented by PN MP Darren Carabott, which will be discussed in Parliament today.

While this is a step in the right direction, it comes rather late for the PN to speak in this way, after having been instrumental in laying the foundations for the environmental havoc we are experiencing today - an effort that has since been relentlessly continued by Labour in government.

It is pertinent to underline that ADPD-The Green Party has already presented similar proposals in the past.

ADPD-The Green Party Deputy Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo stated that rather than introducing new articles in the Constitution, the focus should be on reinforcing Article 9 of the Constitution, which already establishes the environmental duties of the Maltese State.

What is needed is to ensure that this article can be effectively implemented. This is specifically one of the proposals that the Greens have submitted to the Constitutional Convention, and it is also a proposal that has been repeatedly included in our electoral manifestos, the party said.

We hope that this debate will serve its purpose, and that those who have now converted to defending the environment are doing so out of genuine conviction and not political opportunism.