Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1484591
12 OPINION Cheap energy politics THE most important sector which needs urgent, focussed and targeted action from the cli- mate emergency aspect, but also because of health and economic imperatives, together with trans- port, is the energy generation and efficiency sector. Reading the news of the Prime Minister declaring that Malta's focus dur- ing its term on the UN Security Council will be climate change made me wonder whether I missed some grand policy decla- ration. Whether I missed some grand, tens-of-thousands Euros in sound, light, stage and all, press conference. I thought I had missed Malta being declared a textbook example of action re- garding climate change, renew- able energy and sustainable mo- bility. But then I also saw a clip of Miriam Dalli addressing Parlia- ment about energy, and her main focus was the blanket subsidies given to all and sundry. She sub- sidises waste and brags about it. The breathtaking, cheap politics by this 'new and fresh' minister is astounding. Sure she excels at posing and posturing at feasts, coffee mornings and sponsored dinners, but when it comes to en- ergy and climate policy she really doesn't give a hoot. Nor do her voters, to be honest. Indeed Nationalist and Labour government's forte was nev- er change or reform. Nor was it ever leading and explaining how a shift to energy efficiency and renewables is healthier eco- nomically and environmentally. They hardly bothered explaining that uncontrolled wastefulness is a crime against all of us. In- stead they brag about how cheap their electricity is, whatever the source. We had Nationalist govern- ments tweaking the rules, and choosing heavy fuel oil as a fuel, because it was cheap. Then we had a tit-for-tat about laying 'in- terconnectors' – first one, soon, a second one. The argument? Be- cause it provides 'cheap electrici- ty'. Well, not anymore! We tran- sitioned to gas twenty years late, and now they want a pipeline. Again, when it's way too late, we are risking a lock-in into fossil fuels, which will become more expensive as they are phased out in other countries. If they had even a very basic vi- sion, a much larger portion of lo- cally generated electricity would come from renewable sources today. We could have established a system of renewable energy community owned cooperatives by now. We could have all public buildings generating their own electricity. The Irish Climate Ac- tion Plan 2021 explains how the public sector is required by law (not just by media stunts such as the non-binding climate emer- gency vote in the Maltese parlia- ment) to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emis- sions by 51% by 2030. Indeed each and every public sector body will be assigned an individual target. Instead Maltese governments, despite their international pos- turing, shamefully negotiated a 10% greenhouse gas reduction by 2020 (by a PN administration), and now a miserly, minimum effort, minus 19% by 2030. Just imagine if we had reached, 20% renewables by 2020. Just imagine the benefits on multiple fronts, of reaching 40% or 55% of locally generated renewables by 2030. Where are the policies, with strict interim and legally bind- ing targets? When will people be able to hold government to ac- count, through the courts if need be, and at least make them stick to legally binding targets? Indeed, the level of Minister Miriam Dalli's rhetoric is so pa- thetic, and her politics is so pro- vincial, that she even attempted to sell, to those dumb enough to believe her, the 'deal' exempting the country from an EU reduc- tion in energy use by 10% (5% mandatory during peak hours) as some kind of achievement to be proud of. Proud of being unwill- ing to take advantage of a crisis to hammer home the importance of energy efficiency and reducing consumption? Proud of forcing us all to subsidise – not the basic use of households and business- es – but the waste and overcon- sumption of those who couldn't care less? Malta's National Energy and Climate Plan is a risible non- plan. It talks about 'promoting', 'striving', and so on and so forth, without any ambitious targets and effective policy measures and legal instruments. It men- tions 'government leading by example'. Still waiting for the 'leading'. As regards renewable ener- gy, a laughable 11.5% target by 2030 is set. The government is so disinterested that Dalli an- nounced an equally miserly and laughable 'maximum of €74 mil- lion in renewable energy over 20 years, through a new investment scheme for large-scale renewa- ble'. In the meantime hundreds of millions are somehow found to spend on petrol, diesel and gas. The plan speaks of research and innovation, but the Mal- tese public research budget in all sectors is notoriously low at 0.68% of GDP in 2020 (for com- parison: Ireland 1.23%, Finland 2.94%, Cyprus 0.82%). And what can be more risible and pathet- ic than one of the measures to combat climate change men- tioned in the plan is the…wait for it… building and expansion of new roads! But that's an issue for another article! maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 NOVEMBER 2022 We could have established a system of renewable energy community owned cooperatives by now. We could have all public buildings generating their own electricity Ralph Cassar is secretary-general ADPD – The Green Party ralph.cassar@adpd.mt Ralph Cassar