Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/673696
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 MAY 2016 15 encountered arguments locally, along the lines that 'climate change' is not a problem that can conceiv- ably be solved by small countries like Malta… whose actual contribution to greenhouse gas emissions (if you don't count our national shipping register, which is among the largest in the world) is negligible. So (these people argue – and I must stress that I don't share their views) why should small countries like Mal- ta ratify a treaty that will bind it to targets that are a) unrealistic, and b) ultimately useless anyway? "First of all – not that it answers the question, but worth mentioning all the same – it was Malta that first put the item on the international agenda in 1988. It was one of the first inter- national gestures of the incoming Nationalist government… which had done the same thing 20 years earlier, with the 'law of the sea'. In that case, it was Avid Pardo; in this one it was David Attard – now a chancellor at the university – who was advising [foreign minister] Censu Tabone at the time. So if nothing else, one rea- son why Malta should take this issue seriously is that… we invented it." Does this mean that no one else had ever mentioned climate change before Malta brought it up in 1988? "No, it was being discussed at the time… earlier that same year, for in- stance, states acting through the UN environment programme had set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But procedurally speaking, the state that first placed it on the UN agenda was Malta. So 1988 was the year it all bubbled up, so to speak…" Historical reasons apart, Zammit Cutajar rejects the view that Malta's contribution would be in any way negligible. "Malta is part of humanity; it is part of the international community, it is part of the EU. We have to do our bit. Our bit may be small, because we are so few in number. But there is a responsibility involved; it's the same with human rights, and other global issues. We can't sit back and say 'this is not our problem'." But the most important reason to take action is another. "Malta will be affected, particularly insofar as our water supply is concerned. If we don't join the movement towards action, however small our action may be, we will be shooting ourselves in the foot…" This brings us to the question that science is traditionally reluctant to answer: how, exactly will Malta be affected? Zammit Cutajar resists the type of apocalyptic scenarios por- trayed in films like 'The Day After Tomorrow'. "It won't be cataclysmic; but it will make life more difficult. Malta has always had a water prob- lem; the aquifer needs rain to be re- plenished; if there isn't enough rain, we will have to produce more water from the sea… which consumes a lot of energy. There will undeniably be a cost. We are not in quite the same danger as a country like Tuvalu – which might disappear altogether, along with other Pacific island states. I would definitely not exaggerate the danger faced by Malta; but there will be consequences." Some might argue that these con- sequences are already being felt. Geneva is not the only country to have missed out on a winter; Malta is currently experiencing an unprece- dented drought that has precipitated (ahem) public prayers for rain… "Less rain is certainly one of the consequences… another is the pos- sibility that with sea levels rising, the salinity of the aquifer will be in- creased. Having said this, I spoke to a local expert about this, and he ar- gued that the possibility is remote. Since the Mediterranean is all but closed off, it has its own dynamics. All things told, Malta is not an island facing extinction; but we are facing the same desertification problems experienced by North Africa." On top of the immediate impact of rising temperatures, there are social and geopolitical consequences too. Global warming is a major push-fac- tor in migration, for instance. "In Bangladesh, there are large parts of the country – home to mil- lions of people – which might be en- tirely underwater soon, because of a combination of rising sea levels and larger tidal waves. Those people will have to move. Desertification is also a prime contributor to migration in Africa, as is extreme weather every- where – droughts, floods, and so on. There are plenty of reasons why all countries, Malta included, should be concerned. Naturally, it is not our action that will make the difference – as you say, we are too small to solve the problem – but we definitely have to be part of the movement towards a solution." Interview As Malta joined 171 countries in signing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change last week, UN executive MICHAEL ZAMMIT CUTAJAR outlines the significance of the historic deal We are not in quite the same danger as a country like Tuvalu – which might disappear altogether, along with other Pacific island states – but there will be consequences RISK-LEVEL