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NEWS 9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 JANUARY 2022 NICOLE MEILAK MALTA ranks 97th out of 165 countries in the Sustainable De- velopment Index (SDI), which measures the ecological efficien- cy of human development across countries. The index measures the ex- tent to which a country's hu- man development is compati- ble with planetary boundaries. It offers an alternative to the Human Development Index, by going a step further to incor- porate ecological sustainability into overall wellbeing. In fact, Malta generally scores high in the UN's Human Devel- opment Index, ranking 28th in the HDI and 22nd in the ine- quality-adjusted HDI. But once ecological sustainability comes in Malta drops to the lower percentile. Starting with a human devel- opment score, the index incor- porates material footprint and CO2 emissions. It measures the total weight of material extract- ed and consumed by a country, as well as emissions involved in producing and shipping goods around the world. Meanwhile, the development index incorporates life expec- tancy, years in schooling, and income per capita. Malta scored 0.56 on the in- dex, below the world average of 0.69. With a life expectancy of 82.5 years and an average 11.3 years of schooling, it also en- joyed some of the higher levels of income per capita. But Malta also scores high in material footprint per cap- ita, coming in 28th place with 24.41 tonnes worth of mate- rial. CO2 emissions total 5.43 tonnes for the islands. The front runner is Costa Rica, scoring 0.85 in the SDI. Costa Rica scores similarly to Malta in human development, but its CO2 emissions and ma- terial footprint are far lower, at 2.46 and 8.1 tonnes respective- ly. The biggest offender, or most ecologically inefficient country, is Singapore. The is- land microstate scored 0.099, churning out 17.4 tonnes of CO2 per capita with a material footprint of 77.4 tonnes. How does Malta compare to its counterparts? Compared to similar-sized micronations, Malta has a high material footprint. In fact, it ranks third among the micro- states sandwiched between Iceland (33.94 tonnes) and Sey- chelles (22.07 tonnes). At the bottom is Sao Tome and Prin- ciple, with only 5.83 tonnes worth of material footprint. Malta fares better in CO2 emissions. From 13 micro- states, Malta comes in 8th with 5.4 tonnes of CO2. It is followed closely by Barbados, with 5.29 tonnes. In terms of national income, Malta sits between Bahrain and the Bahamas with $39,555 per capita, calculated on purchas- ing power parities against the 2017 benchmark. But when compared to fellow EU member states, Malta ranks sixth in the SDI. The Maltese islands emit some of the lowest levels of CO2 per capita, at 5.43 tonnes. Even its material foot- print per capita falls towards the median. The bigger picture Over time, Malta's SDI re- mained steady. It peaked in 2001 at 0.62 and scored its low- est ranking in 2008 at 0.4. Its material footprint has also re- mained steady since 2008, and CO2 emissions have dipped over the years. Countries all over the world are trying to lower their carbon emissions in line with glob- al efforts to mitigate climate change. Earlier this year, the European Commission adopt- ed the Fit for 55 package and increased its original 40% re- duction target by 2030 to 55%. Malta managed to retain a 19% reduction target in carbon emissions for 2030, down from a higher 36% request after talks with the European Commis- sion. Government had in fact ar- gued Malta was already the bloc's lowest emitter per capita and that it required carbon-re- duction parameters that it could realistically achieve. nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt Malta enjoys high human development in terms of life expectancy and schooling, but material consumption means Malta might be overshooting its share of planetary boundaries Is Malta sustainable? More work needed towards ecological transition CO2 emissions pcap Material footprint Finland Austria Ireland Netherlands Estonia Belgium Germany Sweden Denmark Cyprus Czech Republic Slovakia Poland Lithuania Spain Slovenia France Latvia Greece Italy Bulgaria Portugal Malta Hungary Croatia Romania 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 11.18 11.18 10.91 10.9 10.85 10.45 10.13 9.01 8.8 8.44 8.4 7.78 7.36 7.3 7.24 7.21 7.12 6.94 6.91 6.89 6.87 5.65 5.43 5.04 4.9 4.66 Germany Austria France Romania Croatia Italy Bulgaria Spain Greece 0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 0.57 0.579 0.455 0.401 0.466 0.461 0.567 0.563 25.91 23.38 25.92 28.16 30.19 30.77 25.6 25.66 25.5 25.13 24.41 8.94 8.31 8.24 8.6 8.55 8.6 8.91 9.11 9.26 8.52 8.62 8.69 9.56 8.12 7.77 6.24 5.99 5.73 5.43 5.43 Malta SDI Material footprint (tonnes) CO2 emissions (tonnes) Malta SDI from 2000 to 2019 SDI by microstate 2019 Belize 0.764 Samoa 0.761 Barbados 0.758 Sao Tome and Principe 0.673 Vanuatu 0.654 Antigua and Barbuda 0.597 Malta 0.563 Seychelles 0.445 Bahrain 0.401 Bahamas 0.379 Brunei Darussalam 0.255 Iceland 0.178 Singapore 0.099 Compared to similar-sized micronations, Malta has a high material footprint. In fact, it ranks third among the microstates sandwiched between Iceland (33.94 tonnes) and Seychelles (22.07 tonnes). Malta fares better in CO2 emissions. From 13 microstates, Malta comes in 8th with 5.4 tonnes of CO2. It is followed closely by Barbados, with 5.29 tonnes