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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JUNE 2022 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Maltese literature and language doctorates AT the first annual conference for MA and Ph.D students of Maltese, six young researchers presented their work on Maltese literature and language, and dis- cussed it with their peers and lecturers. The conference, held at the Valletta Campus's Aula Magna on Saturday 4 June 2022, brought together all postgrad- uate researchers, and lecturers from the Maltese Department and the Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology. This conference came at the end of a series of regular research seminars for Masters and Doctoral students in the Department of Maltese. These semi- nars, called 'Appuntamenti mar-Riċer- ka', offer an informal and supportive en- vironment for postgraduate researchers to discuss their work in progress. Ph.D. student, Kirsty Azzopardi, spoke about phasal verbs in the Maltese verb sequence whilst Yanika Schembri Fava presented her Masters dissertation about the use of irony in popular Mal- tese verses. Thomas Pace, who is in the last phase of his Masters dissertation, discussed language policy in language administra- tion whilst Lara Stagno, another Mas- ters student, spoke about the aspects of illocution and perlocution in Nadia Mifsud's poetry. The final two speakers were Ph.D. students: David Agius Muscat spoke about the definition of standard Maltese during the first half of the nineteenth century whilst Justine Somerville dis- cussed the relationship between memo- ry and narrative fiction. During the final part of the confer- ence, those present discussed different ways of improving the regular research seminars and annual conference by way of continuing to assist students in their research journey and fostering a culture and community of research within the Department of Maltese. The 'Appuntamenti mar-Riċerka' seminars are to continue in September. Prof. Adrian Grima Department of Maltese, University of Malta Climate action: food choices ON 5 June, World Environment Day and National Animal Rights Day, the European Citizens Initiative called 'End The Slaughter Age' started: in simple terms, it is an official signature collec- tion – a legal act, not a simple petition – which aims to exclude farms from the European CAP (Common Agri- cultural Policy) subsidies for the live- stock industry, to channel these funds towards greener and more sustainable alternatives such as cellular agriculture and the production of plant-based foods that do not involve killing ani- mals. The launch of the ECI, considered legally admissible by the EU as it meets all the criteria established by the 2012 Lisbon Treaty, started on Sunday 5 June. Whoever wants to sign the peti- tion can go on the site www.savefarm- animals.eu which redirects to the offi- cial European Citizen's Initiative site. The international organisation End The Slaughter Age, the Italian activist Nicolas Micheletti, aim to collect at least 1 million signatures from seven member states of the European Union within a year, the minimum objective necessary to get the European Com- mission moving. Within the one million million sig- natures collected across all the EU, seven countries must also reach a min- imum threshold. Malta needs to collect a minimum threshold of 4230. Once this threshold has been ex- ceeded, it will in fact be required to act, deciding whether or not to carry out the initiative and support the decision with clear and exhaustive reasons. As the impact of climate change is increasingly dramatic and the livestock industry is among the main catalysts of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emis- sions, quick and clear decisions are also expected in favouring diets mainly based on products plant-based, consid- ered much more sustainable. The End The Slaughter Age initia- tive aims precisely to facilitate these ethical, sustainable and healthy alter- natives for the benefit of all: animals, humans and the planet. Vegetable meat and cultivated meat produce over 90% less greenhouse emissions, for the same amount of meat produced, and require as many fewer resources, that is land water. 6 million animals are killed every hour for food. We must stop this cycle. The only way for us to save our plant is to change our lifestyle to a more plant- based lifestyle. Locally, End The Slaughter Age is supported by VeggyMalta, Animal Lib- eration Malta and Real Animal Rights. Darryl Grima, VeggyMalta