At COP30, the United Nations' global climate summit being held in Brazil, Malta risks arriving at the table as the outlier and failure of the European Union - according to a new European Commission report which has just been published, we remain the only EU Member State projected to emit more greenhouse gases in 2030 than we did in 2005, the Nationalist Party said Friday..

The 2025 Climate Action Progress Report shows that by 2030, Malta's emissions are projected to be 30% higher than 2005 levels. If no new measures are introduced, that figure could rise to over 40%. This is well above Malta's target of cutting emissions by 19%.

For years we've heard whataboutisms, finger-pointing, and excuses that blame previous administrations. The simple truth is that, for the past decade, the Labour Government has shown a serious lack of ambition. It has invested more energy in public relations than in regeneration, mitigation, and long-term planning, the PN said.

And it is this lack of ambition that will ultimately pass the bill to the next generation, it added through its spokesperson Eve Borg Bonello..

The PN said it has remained consistent in its call and support for Malta to negotiate fair and realistic emissions targets within the EU, ensuring that a small island state is not treated the same as incomparable large continental emitters. But fairness cannot become an excuse for failure. The Government's energy cannot be spent solely on explaining away its inability to innovate sustainably.

Climate change is not just an abstract figure in a report. Its effects are felt directly by Maltese families every day, from congestion and poor air quality, to aggressive overdevelopment and abusive proposed planning bills, rising temperatures, and the burdens that are placed on households, the PN said.

Climate policy must be central to our governance; whether in planning laws, urban mobility, public health, or the long-term sustainability of our infrastructure and unsustainable overpopulation.

We absolutely cannot continue sacrificing everything on the altar of an economy that is not even serving the well-being and quality of life of Maltese and Gozitan citizens, in cycles that look only at the timing and results of a legislature rather than a long-term vision, Borg Bonello said

In contrast, the PN said it recognises that while the green transition is inevitable, those who are most economically vulnerable must be protected. PN MEPs successfully negotiated Malta's Social Climate Fund, securing over €60 million in funding for families and small enterprises across Malta and Gozo, specifically designed to support the most vulnerable households in the energy and transport transition.

This is why the PN said it continues to call on the Government to think creatively and invest in real, future-proof solutions: renewable energy that can power a modern green economy, new green industries that create quality jobs, and innovative carbon-capture and climate-tech solutions that put our best local talent to work.

We can and must do better, not at the expense of the people we represent, but for them, the statement concluded.

In reply, the Labour Party said the Nationalist Party lacks technical and detailed knowledge on the subject.

Had the PN possessed this type of knowledge, they would have realised that it was thanks to various actions taken in recent years that in Malta, emissions per capita have decreased far more than the European Union average (a reduction of 44% compared to the EU's 34%). Likewise, emissions per unit of Gross Domestic Product fell much more than they did across the European Union (a reduction of 81.6% compared to 61.9% in the EU).

This shows that while the country continued to grow economically, including through more workers and tourists, at the same time, it took concrete actions that led to these results, the PL said.

This does not mean that more actions should not or are not being taken. In fact, the 2026 Budget includes several concrete climate action initiatives, in contrast to the so-called vision document issued by the Nationalist Party in recent days. Despite the fact that its deadline had to be extended twice in order to publish it, it is entirely empty of ideas on this subject. It is no surprise that the Nationalist Party's statement is filled only with partisan political arguments and nothing concrete.

On the other hand, the Labour Party in Government can speak about major projects such as those in the energy sector including the second interconnector, large-scale battery storage for renewables and the process to obtain wind energy, shore-to-ship systems in the Grand Harbour and the Freeport, initiatives such as reshaping our mobility, major changes in the waste sector, innovative investments such as Green Bonds, incentives for the transition in transport, incentives for people to invest in alternative energy, the conversion of the public transport fleet in Gozo to electric vehicles, and much, much more, the PL said.