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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 DECEMBER 2015 3 JAMES DEBONO CONCERN on terrorism is in Malta obscuring other global concerns such as climate change, a survey published by the Eu- ropean commission this week shows. But despite being over- taken by other global problems, climate change is still seen as a very serious problem. The percentage of Maltese who regard climate change as the world's greatest problem has fall- en from 30% in 2013 to 14% now as the percentage who regard terrorism as a top global problem has risen by 30 points. Malta registered the greatest increase in the percentage who regard terrorism as the greatest problem facing the globe. The percentage of those who regard global poverty as the main global problem has fallen by 5 points in both Malta and the rest of Europe. Concern on the economic situation has fallen by 8 points in the EU and 9 points in Malta. This emerges from an EU wide Eurobarometer survey conducted in May and June before the latest outrage in Paris. The results were published on Monday. Concern on terrorism has risen in the EU by 11 points but con- cern on climate change has only decreased by a single point. Terrorism was regarded as the greatest global problem only in Malta and the Czech Republic. Poverty was seen as the top glo- bal problem in 18 EU countries while climate change was seen as the greatest problem in Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Armed conflict was seen as the greatest global problem in Latvia, Poland and Estonia while the economic situation was seen as the great- est global problem in Italy and Cyprus. In Malta 46% now regard cli- mate change as one of the four greatest problems facing the earth, 12 points fewer than in 2013. Climate change a serious problem But although the percentage who regard climate change as the world's greatest problem has fallen, the Maltese still regard climate change as an important issue. When asked which concrete action they have taken to tackle climate change, only a fifth of the Maltese – compared to an EU average of 36% – replied that they are using environmentally friendly alternatives to their car, such as walking, riding a bike, using public transport or car sharing. But while only 6% of EU citizens have installed renewable energy sources in their own homes, 16% of Maltese claim to have done so. But the Maltese are less likely to insulate their room – 13% com- pared to an EU mean of 23%. More than three-quarters of the Maltese compared to 74% of EU members try to reduce their waste and regularly separate it for recycling. Six in ten buy locally produced seasonal food whenev- er possible (60%, compared with an EU average of 49%). 56% try to cut their use of dis- posable items whenever possible, just 1 point less than all EU citi- zens. Seven in ten respondents in Malta say that climate change is a "very serious" problem (70%), 1 point more than the percentage of all EU citizens who express the same view.. Half of the respondents believe their national government is re- sponsible for tackling climate change (50%, EU average: 42%). One fifth say they themselves have a responsibility for tackling climate change (20%, close to the EU average of 19%). Nearly six in ten respondents say they have taken some person- al action to fight climate change in the past six months (58%, above the EU average of 49%). 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Teatru - Gulsin Onay - 20x2.indd 1 30/11/2015 15:57 16-point drop in concern on climate change Terrorism overtakes climate change as Malta's top global problem CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 All six Maltese MEPs voted against the proposal, warning that small economies like Malta will bear the brunt of their introduction. Addressing the KPMG con- ference by video, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil spoke of "a growing and unjust on- slaught" by European and international institutions against Malta's favourable tax regime. "We fended this pressure off during our time in office, but it is now gathering significant momentum," he warned. "The government, Opposition and all stakeholders must work together to defend our patch against what I see as an unjust onslaught driven by interests that I, for one, do not share. "I believe that it should be perfectly possible for a coun- try to have cutting-edge tax legislation that offers an at- tractive package to one and all. Competition is good and tax competition is also good. It is good for us, but it should also be good for Europe." However, he said that Malta must start thinking of alter- natives from now, during the calm before the storm. "It would be folly of us to think that life can go on as it is and that things will not and cannot change. It is our job to think today of alterna- tives that we ought to have in place if we want to grow our economy in a manner that re- lies less on what we take for granted today." In his own video speech, Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat brief ly touched on the issue by reiterating the gov- ernment's stance that fiscal policy decisions should con- tinue to be taken by national parliaments. "We will continue to en- hance Malta's regulatory legal framework so as to ce- ment our position as a centre of excellence in the financial services sector," he said. "We will keep introducing new innovative initiatives to en- courage stakeholders to set up or expand their operations in Malta." 'Unjust onslaught on Malta's tax legislation' – Busuttil