Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/441179
Events 28 maltatoday, Sunday, 4 January 2015 One of the most common flowers around at this time of the year is surely the White Mustard. Look into any field that hasn't been worked for a year or two and if you see a carpet of white rather than a carpet of green, that's them right there. Thing is, the White Mustard has not been sown there by the farmer, it's as wild a plant as the sorrel at your feet. So why is it so common? The reason is that White Mustard has learned to occupy our most common habitat: farmland, which covers more than half of Malta's land area. If a plant can sprout and grow quickly in soft, recently tilled earth, and can run its entire life cycle in a single season, fallow fields are ideal des res for it. White Mustard (M: Gargir Abjad) meets all these requirements, so finding a place to live is not a problem. Its biggest problem is competition for space from fellow opportunist species, such as its yellow-flowered cousin the Perennia Wall-rocket. White Mustard blooms in autumn and winter, producing neat clusters of white four- petalled flowers. The leaves, on the other hand, are a rather untidy job, looking like something Edward Scisssorhands trained on. But chew a bite of those leaves and wait for the aftertaste. Yup, that's why it's called a mustard! 435. WHITE MUSTARD Green Idea of the week 338: Recycling… its only one click away – recycle Malta is a facebook page which connects people in need of giving with those in need of getting! It's a place where you can share your new or used unwanted items - not for sale but for giving! https://www.facebook.com/groups/recyclemalta/ The world faces a planetary emergency: climate change, caused by a system that puts the pursuit of profit above the needs of people and the limits of nature. It is already devastating millions of people across the planet. Climate science predicts we will soon breach critical tipping points and could be locked in to 4-5°c of warming with catastrophic impacts for us all. The Lima Conference should have been a milestone that marked out how governments will take urgent action to tackle climate change and to support vulnerable people across the world to adapt to its impacts. The concrete demand was to set out how we would increase emission reductions from now until 2020, and set long term climate targets to make sure we limit temperature increase to below 1.5°C. Therefore, climate targets need to keep us within the emissions budget, which should be shared based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and honour climate debt. What we have seen in Lima is another in a series of yearly decisions that weaken international climate rules, failing people and the planet. The pre-2020 mitigation pledges are unjust and weak and put us on track to breach 2°C of warming by mid-century. The promised increases in pledges didn't materialise in 2014, nor was there a commitment to urgently revisit, revise, or review them. Lima prepares us for an agreement in Paris that ignores the needs and rights of impacted people across the world by precluding binding commitments on finance, adaption, loss and damage and technology transfer. This outcome fails to link the actions of countries with the technology and finance that is needed to enable people in the South to adapt and build resilience and deal with the loss and damage from the impacts of climate change, as well as to carry out mitigation actions without which the world will not reach the scale of transformation and just transition needed to limit temperature rise below 1,5 C degrees. What was decided in Lima opens the possibility for every country to decide its own climate action going forward, with no reference to what science, people, and justice demand, and without a clear regulatory framework. We saw politicians, especially those from the uS, the Eu and their allies, acting in the interest of big polluting corporations, determined to further deregulate the international climate change regime, fundamentally undermining the un climate convention, by weakening the rules for developed countries, shifting responsibility to the South, and ignoring their legal and moral obligation to transfer finance and technology. Leaving Lima we see that again a backdoor has been opened for the further expansion of the failed experiment of carbon markets. Including, possibly carbon credits from forests and soil, which undermines communities' land rights and would be devastating to farmers and forest communities across the world whilst preventing the transformation we need. Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us www.foemalta.org. You can also support us by sending a blank SMS donation on 50618070 (€4.66) or 50619223 (€11.65). Text Victor Falzon Photo Krista Camilleri No Justice in Lima Outcome Monetary statistics from the central Bank of Malta Monetary data for August are based on the new ESA 2010 methodology. In this regard all past data going back to June 2010 have been revised to take into account the changeover to this methodology. The major impact of the change to the new methodology is the reclassification of special purpose entities (SPEs) which are now mainly included within the Other Financial Corporations sector. These are le- gal entities which are set up to fulfil specific objectives. They are charac- terised by a limited physical presence in their country of operation, the low number of staff they employ and the absence on their balance sheet of non-financial assets. SPEs have been reclassified from residents of the rest of the world to residents of Malta. Consequently, residents' deposits, as well as loans to residents, were revised upwards. These revisions also affect the dynamics of these variables. Deposits of Maltese residents Deposits belonging to residents of Malta and held with resident Mone- tary Financial Institutions (MFIs) con- tinued on their upward path, growing in August by €285.2 million, or 2.5%. As a result, the annual growth rate rose to 13.2% from 12.5% in July. Overnight deposits contributed sig- nificantly to deposit growth, expand- ing by €118.8 million, or 1.7%. This principally reflected higher balances belonging to non-financial corpora- tions (NFCs) and, to a lesser extent, households. However, given that an even larger increase was recorded twelve months earlier, the annual growth rate slowed down to 15.5% from 17.2% a month earlier. At the same time, deposits with an agreed maturity of up to two years put on €158.5 million, or 3.9%, driven mainly by balances belonging to NFCs in both the private and public sectors. Consequently, the annual growth rate of these deposits rose to 9.4% from 5.3% in July. Meanwhile, deposits re- deemable at a notice of up to three months rose by €7.9 million, or 6.9%. Credit to Maltese residents In August, credit to Maltese resi- dents expanded marginally by €8.1 million, or 0.1%. However, on an an- nual basis, credit continued to con- tract, falling by 2.8% following a 2.0% drop in the previous month. The year- on-year contraction is influenced sig- nificantly by reductions in credit to SPEs earlier in the year. Credit to general government rose marginally by €4.7 million, or 0.2%, during the month as a result of loans granted to government. Nevertheless, the annual growth rate slowed down to 5.2% from 9.0% in July. Reproduction is permitted provid- ed that the source is acknowledged. Meanwhile, credit to other residents, mainly private sector residents, ex- panded marginally by €3.4 million, as higher loans to NFCs and households were largely offset by lower lending to non-bank financial intermediaries, the sector in which SPEs have been reclassified. The annual rate of con- traction in credit to other residents accelerated from -4.8% in July to -5.0% in August. The weighted average deposit rate was 22 basis points below its level a year earlier, while that charged on loans was 21 basis points lower. Further economic and monetary information can be obtained from the website of the Central Bank of Malta www.centralbankmalta.org HsBc Malta Foundation donates €35,000 to Patrimonju Malti HSBC Malta Foundation has pledged another €35,000 to Fon- dazzjoni Patrimonju Malti to help the non-profit organisation strengthen its mission of spreading awareness of the unique Maltese's cultural heritage. HSBC Bank Malta Chief Execu- tive Officer Mark Watkinson said: "We view our association with Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti with immense pride as it signifies our mutual affinity for the herit- age, ideas, and values of Malta." Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti is a non-profit foundation dedicated to spreading awareness about Malta's heritage, locally and international- ly, through museums, exhibitions and publications. Exhibitions or- ganised by Patrimonju have show- cased popular and lesser-known aspects of Maltese art, including Maltese wall clocks (l-Arloġġ tal- Lira), silver and antique jewellery in Malta, antique furniture, costumes, and prehistoric art. Furthermore, Fondazzjoni Pat- rimonju Malti publishes a range of prestigious publications, including catalogues to accompany each of its exhibitions. These works contrib- ute towards a highly referenced and ever-growing body of work about Maltese art. More information about HS- BC Malta Foundation's Corpo- rate Sustainability drive is avail- able on the Bank's website at www.hsbc.com.mt HSBC Malta CEO Mark Watkinson (second left) presenting the cheque to Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti Chairman Maurice de Giorgio as other officials look on. correction On Sunday 28 December, MaltaToday erroneously pub- lished an article that referred to the restaurant Suruchi as the winner of the Best Res- taurant Award 2015 by The Definitive(ly) Good Guide. While Suruchi won an award plate and was among the most highly rated restaurants, the Medina restaurant won the Best Restaurant Award for 2015. The error is regretted. Download the MaltaToday App now