Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1394990
9 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 T he European Commission has just released a set of proposals aimed at reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Achieving these emission reductions in the next decade is crucial to Europe becoming the world's first climate-neu- tral continent by 2050 and making the European Green Deal a reality. e Commission believes this target can be reached by changing the bloc's climate, energy, transport and taxation policies. It proposes a raft of concrete meas- ures cutting across different sectors to penalise polluters, encourage a shift towards greener and cleaner technolo- gy and tackle climate change issues at source. e blueprint is ambitious. In reality, it has to be ambitious to address the is- sues impacting climate change. But while the Commission's docu- ment is quick in proposing taxes and tariffs to address some of the issues at stake, it is less forthcoming in propos- als to mitigate the negative economic and social impact some of the green measures will have on small countries, poor nations and the vulnerable in so- ciety. From Malta's perspective, the Com- mission's proposal to introduce carbon pricing for the aviation and maritime sectors is of particular concern. e stated aim of the Commission's proposal is to promote the use of clean- er fuels in the two sectors that have so far been excluded from carbon pric- ing. e Commission also wants to promote cleaner aviation fuels with an obligation for planes to take on sustain- able blended fuels for all departures from EU airports and sets targets for major sea ports to serve vessels with onshore power. Being an island on the periphery of the EU, Malta depends on ships and planes for its connections to the rest of the world. Making air travel and ship- ping more expensive will undoubtedly have a direct economic impact, apart from creating new challenges for the shipping and aviation registers held by Malta. Unlike other countries in mainland Europe that are served by rail transport, Malta could suddenly be faced with a massive competitive disadvantage. ere is no doubt that the existential threat posed by climate change can- not be ignored. e extreme weather events that happen regularly are a stark reminder of the impact climate change is having on the world. But addressing these issues requires equitable solutions that do not penalise the weak, the small and the vulnerable. Malta must make its case clearly and forcefully in the EU. Enterprise Minister Miriam Dalli tells BusinessToday that discussions on the Commission's proposal are expected to be long and heated, not least because of the disparity between the different countries that make up the bloc. She says that Malta will be putting forward its case as a small island on Eu- rope's periphery. "We have to be able to convince when explaining our particu- larities," she says. Dalli has already gone through a sim- ilar experience when convincing the European Commission to allow fund- ing for a hydrogen-ready natural gas pipeline between Sicily and Malta. ere is no doubt that Malta has to play its part in achieving carbon neu- trality - it will benefit our quality of life as citizens of this earth. But in doing so, mitigation measures must be an integral part of any proposals that are agreed to. e noble aim of addressing the ills caused by human activity on the earth's climate must not lead to new social and economic inequality that risks under- mining the whole process. The long road ahead towards Europe's green deal 22.7.2021