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12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 JULY 2025 NEWS Survey finds that Maltese feel most vulnerable to climate change in EU JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt THE Maltese are the most likely in Eu- rope to agree with the European Union's objective of becoming climate neutral by 2050. According to the same survey, they also feel the most exposed to the impacts of climate change. In Malta, support for this objective stands at 94%, the highest among all 27 EU member states and even sur- passing Sweden's 91%. By contrast, the lowest levels of agreement are found in Czechia (51%) and Estonia (46%). These findings emerged from a Euro- barometer survey commissioned by the European Commission, published on Monday. The survey found an overwhelming agreement in Malta that climate change is mainly caused by human activity. It also shows that the Maltese are the most likely in Europe to feel "exposed" to climate change. According to the survey, 68% of Mal- tese feel very exposed (36%) or some- what exposed (32%) to climate change and its impacts, particularly extreme weather conditions including wildfires, heatwaves, and floods. This makes the Maltese the most likely among the 27 member states to say they are already exposed to climate change. The survey also shows that southern and eastern European countries report the highest levels of exposure: Mal- ta (68%) is followed by Greece (65%), Hungary (64%), Poland (60%), Cyprus (59%), and Portugal (59%). In contrast, respondents from northern and west- ern Europe report feeling less exposed. Furthermore, the report reveals that 93% of Maltese respondents agree that climate change is caused by human ac- tivity, compared to 84% across the 27 member states. This was the second-highest level of agreement in the EU, after Sweden (96%) and equal to Denmark (93%). By contrast, just 6% of Maltese disagreed that climate change is caused by human activity. In terms of perceived seriousness, 89% of Maltese respondents described cli- mate change as a serious problem, with 60% saying it is very serious. The per- centage who regards climate change as a very serious problem was the second highest in the EU. The Maltese are also the most likely in Europe (82%) to say they have taken in- dividual action to fight climate change. The most common actions in Malta were reducing and separating waste (62%) and cutting down on plastic use (54%). The Maltese were also more like- ly to have installed solar panels on their homes (18%) compared to 8% across the EU. However, while 25% of all EU re- spondents said they have reduced their meat consumption, the figure falls to 12% in Malta. Like other Europeans, the Maltese see national governments (70%), the EU (61%), and business and industry (47%) as best placed to tackle climate change. Similarly, to most Europeans, the Maltese believe that their govern- ment is not doing enough to address the problem. In fact, only 24% of Maltese (compared to 23% across all member states) think their government is doing enough. However, compared to 2023, the percentage of Maltese who believe their government is doing enough has increased by five points. More public financing to cut subsidies? Respondents were asked whether they agreed with the statement: "More public financing should be given to the transition to clean energy, even if it means subsidies to fossil fuels are re- duced or stopped." In Malta, 60% of re- spondents, despite currently benefiting from generous government subsidies on petrol and household energy consump- tion, expressed full agreement with this statement. This was the highest level of full agreement among all EU countries, compared to 33% across the EU as a whole. The Eurobarometer survey was con- ducted by Kantar Public on behalf of the European Commission between Febru- ary and March 2024. A total of 26,319 EU citizens aged 15 and over were in- terviewed face-to-face in their homes, including 503 respondents in Malta. The survey has a margin of error of ±4.4 percentage points. Maltese among EU's strongest believers in human-caused climate change and backers of carbon neutrality, Eurobarometer survey shows. The survey found an overwhelming agreement in Malta that climate change is mainly caused by human activity (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)