Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1481355
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 OCTOBER 2022 NEWS Win a trip to Dubai In collaboration with with your moneybase Mastercard. Every €10 spent earns you a chance to win. Terms and conditions apply. Visit moneybase.com/rewards for more information. Moneybase payment services are brought to you by Moneybase Limited (MB) C87193, which is licensed by the MFSA to transact the business of a Financial Institution in terms of the Financial Institutions Act, Cap 376. Moneybase Investment Services are brought to you by Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd (CCIS) C13729 and is licensed by the MFSA to undertake investment services business under the Investment Services Act, Cap 370. Moneybase Invest offers direct market access and speed of execution and is intended for knowledgeable and experienced individuals taking their own investment decisions. The value of investments may go up as well as down and investors might not get back the original amount invested. MB and CCIS are both subsidiaries of the CC Finance Group plc with their registered address situated at Level 0, Ewropa Business Centre, Dun Karm Street, Birkirkara, BKR 9034, Malta. JAMES DEBONO EACH of Malta's 321 licensed collective accommodation es- tablishments will be subjected to an audit that will quantify their water and electricity con- sumption, in a bid to determine the carbon footprint of the tour- ism sector. The study, issued for tender by the tourism ministry, will also present a breakdown by collec- tive accommodation category. The study will include recom- mendations on how the tourist accommodation sector can re- duce its energy consumption and water usage in a "transition plan" to achieve carbon neu- trality by 2050, in line with the European Union's Green New Deal. Tourism contributes signifi- cantly to Malta's carbon foot- print, with record tourist arriv- als in 2019 of 2.8 million tourists representing a 10% increase in seasonal population. While acknowledging that the drop in economic activity dur- ing the pandemic had a "posi- tive impact to the general envi- ronment" as a result of cleaner air, reduced waste and less fuel emission, the MTA predicts that energy and water consumption by tourists are now returning to normal levels. Achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 in this post-pandemic reboot will require assisting the sector to achieve a "green recov- ery". The study's terms of reference make no reference to embodied carbon, a term that describes the harmful greenhouse gases emitted during renovation and construction of hotels. On a global level, cement production contributes to about 7% of all carbon emissions. MTA aims for 2050 carbon neutrality for over 300 hotels Study to establish carbon footprint of 321 licensed Maltese hotels to find out how they can reduce their operational carbon footprint