Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1531177
7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 8 JANUARY 2025 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt THOMAS CILIA tcilia@mediatoday.com.mt AN 18-year old teenager was hand- ed a one-year prison term, suspend- ed for two years, after admitting to driving a car into a crowd of people in Paceville on Boxing Day. Leon Cremona Adly also admit- ted to driving the car whilst drunk and without the permission of the owner. The incident occurred follow- ing an argument which had taken place in Triq San Gorg, with Adly also admitting to trying to injure the pedestrians. Cremona Adly, who will be moni- tored by a probation officer for the next two years, also had his driving licence suspended for a period of one year. Magistrate Gabriella Vella warned the defendant of the con- sequences he would face if he were to breach the conditions laid down. The prosecution was led by In- spector Darryl Farr and lawyer Clive Aquilina from the office of the Attorney General. Cremona Adly was represented by lawyers Nicholas Mifsud and Ishmael Psaila. Teenager who drove car into crowd of people handed suspended sentence MALTA has fallen five spots to rank 34th in the 2025 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), continuing a downward trend from 18th place in 2023 and 29th in 2024. The country maintains a me- dium performance overall, with high ratings in energy use, moderate ratings in green- house gas (GHG) emissions, low ratings in climate policy, and very low ratings in renew- able energy. The CCPI, which evaluates the climate performance of 67 countries including all EU member states – accounting for over 90% of global GHG emissions – uses a standard- ised framework to assess per- formance in GHG emissions, renewables, energy use, and climate policy. According to the report Mal- ta ranked 44th in terms of re- newable energy and 34th in climate policy but was ranked 16th with regards to energy use. Weak implementation of climate policies Despite the 2015 Climate Ac- tion Act, which made climate protection legally binding, Malta has faced criticism for its insufficient efforts to reduce GHG emissions and weak im- plementation of climate poli- cies. In 2024, the establishment of the Climate Action Author- ity marked a step toward bet- ter coordination and oversight of climate change policies, but the CCPI experts noted limited tangible progress. Energy subsidies The CCPI report notes that Malta's 2025 budget includes continued subsidies, includ- ing those for energy, aimed at shielding citizens from fuel poverty. While experts com- mend these efforts, they argue that the subsidies inadvertent- ly encourage high energy con- sumption and waste. The country also remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels, as evidenced by the government's 2024 purchase of a diesel-pow- ered plant to address potential electricity shortfalls. Progress in renewable energy remains sluggish. Solar energy use has increased, but offshore wind energy projects remain stuck in the planning stage de- spite being discussed since the late 1990s. While noting that in October 2024, the government launched a National Policy for the De- ployment of Offshore Renewa- ble Energy, no tangible results have been achieved so far. Transport sector lagging Malta's transport sector also drew criticism, with automo- biles dominating despite the introduction of free public transport in October 2022. Bicycle lanes remain scarce, and automobile usage has not declined significantly. How- ever, subsidies for electric ve- hicles have led to a noticeable increase in their adoption. The experts consulted in the CCPI report who accepted to be mentioned included Lu- ciano Mule' Stagno (Institute for Sustainable Energy), Dr Suzanne Maas (Friends of the Earth Malta), and Dr John Paul Cauchi (Queen Mary Universi- ty of London). Malta drops to 34th place in Climate Performance Index rankings