Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1404527
NEWS 6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 AUGUST 2021 Holy cow Maltese among least likely to cut down on meat for planet JAMES DEBONO NEARLY a third of Europeans are cutting down on meat to fight climate change, but less than one- fifth of Maltese are doing so, a Eurobarometer survey on climate change shows. Respondents in the Netherlands (55%), Germany (51%), Luxem- bourg and Sweden (46% in both countries) are the most likely to answer that they buy and eat less meat. Those in Romania (12%) and Hungary and Poland (14% in both countries), Bulgaria (15%) and Malta (17%) were the least likely to do so. Meat and dairy, particularly from cows, have an outsize im- pact on climate change, with livestock accounting for around 14.5% of the world's greenhouse gases each year. That's roughly the same amount as the emissions from all the cars, trucks, airplanes and ships combined in the world today. In general, beef and lamb have the biggest climate footprint per gram of protein, while plant-based foods tend to have the smallest impact. Pork and chicken are somewhere in the middle. Respondents in Denmark (51%), Slovenia (49%) and Luxembourg and Austria (48% in both coun- tries) are the most likely to say they buy and eat more organic food, particularly compared with those in Hungary and Bulgaria (both 12%), and Malta (17%). But compared to other Europe- ans, the Maltese are more likely to combat climate change by buying energy saving equipment and to avoid disposables but are less like- ly to consider the impact of eating meat. When asked about what con- crete actions they are taking to stop climate change the Maltese are less likely than the EU average to buy and eat less meat (17% vs EU average of 31%), to buy and eat more organic food (17% vs EU average of 32%) and to use public transport instead of the private car (26% vs EU average of 30%). And while 16% of EU respond- ents consider the carbon footprint of their shopping only 10% of the Maltese do so. Only 4% of Maltese consider the carbon footprint of their holidays compared to an EU average of 11%. But the Maltese are more like- ly than the EU average to have installed equipment in their home to control and reduce en- ergy consumption (29%, versus 10% in the EU as a whole) and to have installed solar panels on their roofs (19% vs EU average of 8%). They are also more likely to say that lower energy consump- tion is an important factor in their choice when buying a new household appliance (58% vs the EU average of 42%). But when it comes to insulation the Maltese lag behind (11% vs the EU aver- age of 18%). Since 2019, the proportion of respondents who have taken action to fight climate change has increased in 14 EU Member States, most notably in Poland (52%, +12 percentage points), Ireland (72%, +10) and Portu- gal (83%, +9). Conversely, it has decreased in 12 countries, particularly in Malta (74%, -14), Denmark (62%, -13) and Sweden (74%, -10). Buy and eat less meat Buy and eat more organic food Consider carbon footprint of shopping Consider carbon footprint of holidays Use public transport instead of car Have insulated my home Have installed a solar panel Have installed equipment to reduce energy consumption Consider energy consumption when being appliances Recycle and separate waste Cut down on disposable items 17 31 17 32 10 16 4 11 26 30 11 18 19 8 29 10 58 42 82 75 71 59 Malta EU Which actions do you take to combat climate change? JAMES DEBONO A dilapidated building and adja- cent field between the Moroni and Parisio streets in Sliema are being earmarked for a 10-storey hotel by developer Michael Stivala. The application follows the the approval of a zoning application which substituted a schemed staircase that links lower and up- per Parisio Street, with a tunnel. Stivala is proposing the demoli- tion of a dilapidated building sep- arating the lower and higher part of Parisio street, and the erection of a hotel over 11 floors, including a ground-floor reception area and a receded restaurant floor. The hotel will have a pool deck on top of the top-floor restaurant and the excavation of three underground for a spa and parking levels. As proposed, the hotel will be built over a 957sq.m area occu- pied by the old building and field, in the vicinity of the protected Villa Bonici site. Apart from the Waterfront Hotel which faces the Strand, the area is mainly residen- tial and inhabited by elderly peo- ple who are alarmed by the scale of excavations required by the de- velopment. In 2017, the Planning Authority had paved the way for the devel- opment by approving an applica- tion by Stivala himself to remove a planned schemed stairway linking the upper and lower parts of Pa- risio Street, and to rezone the area occupied by the old building as a residential one. Instead of the public stairway, which was never constructed, the planning control applica- tion proposed an uncovered 50m-long and 2m-wide tunnel and a 50m-long water culvert. The designated width for the planned stairs was 12.2m. The pedestrian passage and the water culvert will be constructed at Stivala's expense to serve as a "pedestrian link be- tween Triq Moroni and Triq Pa- risio". The schemed stairway dates back to 1961, and replicated in the Temporary Provision Schemes of 1989 and subsequently in the 2006 North Harbour Local Plan. The site is occupied by an existing old but inhabited building which blocks access to the upper part of Parisio Street. In 2016 the PA had rejected a planning control application pre- sented by the authority itself in 2012 to do away with the project- ed schemed stairway, and include the site as part of the residential area. But after winning a court case on the ownership of the land in question, Stivala presented a new zoning application. On its own initiative, the Sliema local council had carried out a public consultation exercise whereby it requested the opinion of the residents of the area, who expressed themselves in favour of the proposed staircase. Subse- quently the council insisted that plans for the stairway are retained. While commending the appli- cant's inclusion of a public pas- sageway and a storm water culvert in the development, the council had expressed its concern on the private ownership of the passage- way. 10-storey hotel proposed in heart of Sliema residential area