Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1431464
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 NOVEMBER 2021 INTERVIEW fight against climate change el, however, I also wanted to be clear on what we mean, exactly, by 'loss and damage'. In Malta's case, for instance, we cannot only look at the 'loss and damage' that occurs on land; the rate at which the Mediterranean is warming is also having incalculable effects on our marine biodiversity. This is something that requires immediate attention and action; and I, for one, expect the inter- national community to agree on a specific financial package - in the shortest possible timeframe - to help those countries with all aspects of adaptation to Climate Change: not just the effects we can 'see', so to speak, with our own eyes… but also, the invisible damage to our ecosystems, and our marine biodiversity. Already, we are witnessing a radical change that may result in catastrophic loss, unless we take immediate action to try and reverse the damage that is being done. That, I would say, is the one message I tried to push in all the meetings I attended. Now that the conference itself is over, and an agreement has been reached… what is the next step for the European Par- liament? Certainly, the European Parlia- ment will not rest on the laurels of the final agreement. We need to go beyond that. In fact, we now have the 'Fit for 55' package, pro- posed on behalf of the European Commission by [vice-president] Frans Timmermans, which sets additional targets – over and above the COP26 agreement - that the EU needs to meet by 2030. I am one of the rapporteurs on a number of legislative targets we now have before us; as such, I will be participating in discussions and negotiations regarding the Market Stability Reserve of the Emissions Trading Scheme. It is admittedly a little complex and technical; but what it means in practice is that we will be working towards a 55% reduction in [EU] carbon emissions by 2030; and on top of that, there is also a scheme whereby each individual member state must make its own contri- bution towards reducing the EU's total emissions by that percent- age, within that timeframe. But that's just the first step. Apart from that, I believe that the European Union has to retain its global role as an ambassador of Climate Change. And to achieve this, we must be the ones to take action; to do more than other countries. There is no point in encourag- ing others to do things that we are reluctant to do ourselves. So we must continue to be world leaders in the fight against Cli- mate Change; but we must also encourage other players on the global stage to take the necessary action. Because at the end of the day, this is not a battle that the EU can fight on its own. Climate Change affects the entire planet equally; and unless all countries play their part, no amount of ac- tion taken by the EU can ever be enough. One of the challenges already faced by the EU is immigration. In the near future, however, we may face immigration of a different variety: including internal displacement, as peo- ple (including EU citizens) are forced to move because of en- vironmental catastrophes re- lated to climate change. How prepared is the EU to face this challenge, in terms of the re- sources available to individual member states? As I already mentioned before, we are already witnessing cases of internal displacement, because of climate change, in countries such as Bangladesh. Meanwhile, as you say, Europe is already expe- riencing immigration on account of political and economic condi- tions; but yes, I do believe that, in years to come, we will also start experiencing immigration caused by climate change. I would even go as far as to say that – unless some form of drastic action is taken – we in Malta, too, will start facing similar problems in our own country. Already, we are facing the prospect of deser- tification, and future water scar- city. But if the rate of climate change continues unabated, we may even end up with problems related to the security of our na- tional food supply. Because at the end of the day, climate change af- fects all those issues. Unfortunately, however, the re- ality is that the European Union is not even prepared to cope with the sort of immigration we have today; let alone, the challenges we may soon be facing. In truth, we have to work a lot harder towards that goal: not just in the European Parliament – because to be hon- est, there is already widespread agreement on this issue, at EP level. There are clear majorities, which spell out the direction that needs to be taken with regard to immigration. Now, however, it is up to the individual member states, to as- sume their own responsibilities within the European Council: so that the EU's Asylum and Immi- gration Pact comes into force at last… as opposed to the situation today, whereby individual coun- tries such as Hungary, Poland and Slovakia keep hijacking the entire discussion, and preventing decisions from moving forward, simply because they decide to go against the EU's core principles of solidarity. It cannot be that countries such as Malta, Italy, Greece and Spain – basically, the border states on the periphery on the EU - contin- ue to bear the full brunt of immi- gration, alone and unaided. This responsibility has to be shared among everybody equally. But it is also up to us, as a coun- try, to work harder to change the trajectory the world has taken, with regard to Climate Change; because the reality is that our present immigration problems are only going to get worse, if we do nothing at all. This raises the question of what can, in fact, be done – if any- thing at all – to avert this ca- tastrophe… There is a lot that can still be done; and it is not just govern- ments that need to take action, either. Naturally, it is important that governments do live up to their own responsibilities; and there are particular areas – such as energy generation, for instance; or transport, which in Malta re- mains the highest source of car- bon emissions in the country – where only the government can realistically intervene. But there are also ways in which the decisions we ourselves take every day, as citizens, can have an impact. If, for instance, you need to go to the grocer to do your shopping… is there a need to go by car, every time? […] There are a lot of things that we can all do, every day, that – while they might not seem like very much – can make a big difference. To give you just one example: one of the other targets agreed upon is to limit the temperature increase, over the next century, to 1.5 degrees. It is, admitted- ly, an ambitious target: scien- tists estimate that, unless drastic measures are taken, the increase is more likely to be around 4 de- grees… but one of the ways this target could be reached, in prac- tice, is if people were to simply switch off their laptops for two hours a day. I'm not saying, of course, that we can overcome the crisis sim- ply by switching off our laptops; or using them a couple of hours less each day. On its own, that will certainly not be enough. Nonetheless, there are certain things we can all do, that could have a large impact. It is up to us, however, to believe that our actions really can make a difference. It is easy to say: 'but what difference could I possibly make, on my own?" But if we all say that, nothing will ever change. If, on the other hand, we ask ourselves: 'what can we all do, as individuals, to make a differ- ence?'… the answer is: yes, there are small things we can all do, that – even though they appear insignificant – may nonetheless make a huge difference, further down the line.