Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/697149
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 JUNE 2016 40 This Week Being an island, Malta is not short of shoreline. As plenty of this coast slopes gently to the sea, we can be a good refuelling station for migrating shorebirds, and the Spotted Redshank is one such, albeit scarce, customer. Medium-sized as shorebirds go, Spotted Redshanks (M: Ċuvett) sport the classic wading bird features: streamlined body, long legs and long pointed beak. Most waders have a modest colour scheme - it pays to be drably garbed when you live on exposed shores with nowhere to hide from predators. Even diehard birders have problems telling some waders from each other, especially in winter when grey and white dominate the plumage palette. Summer, however, brings birds out in their best dress, not least the Spotted Redshank, which turns jet black. GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 415: : RECYCLE GLASS: Every ton of glass recycled saves the equivalent of nine gallons of fuel oil needed to make glass from virgin materials. Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate Text and photo Victor Falzon 512. SPOTTED REDSHANK Have you ever booked a holiday, then paid to offset the emissions of your flight? The claim of offsetting is that for every tonne of carbon dioxide produced, a tonne is avoided by investing in low-carbon projects. But a close look at offsetting shows it is profoundly unjust – and that it doesn't work. Here are a few reasons why. Offsetting often pays for things that would have happened anyway, such as some hydroelectric schemes in China, so no additional carbon is saved. It's hard to believe, but offsetting can actually increase emissions by paying for the construction of new coal fired power stations. Offsetting reduces pressure on rich countries to develop clean technologies. Offsetting also allows rich countries to pump out climate change gases while expecting poorer countries to develop cleanly. The science demands we cut emissions in rich countries and emissions growth in developing countries; not one or the other. Things to know about Climate Change 6 – Offsetting emissions just doesn't work Of power and toes ROBERT LOUIS FENECH THIS week's developments in the high-rise saga have shown that when civil society comes togeth- er to prod the authorities in the right direction, we can achieve re- sults. The Planning Authority was meant to decide on the Town- Square project, the first of these many proposed high-rise devel- opments to come up for approval, last Thursday. That morning, FAA filed a warrant of prohibi- tory injunction in court, stress- ing the need for further studies before accepting a project that would leave a permanent impact on Sliema and indeed the entire Maltese landscape. You would think that is an obvious point to the authorities, but no, civil so- ciety activists, like those in FAA, need to seek legal recourse even on such matters, which should not be up for contention. Later that day, we joined Sliema resi- dents in their protest against the development's rushed application process (note, not against high- rise developments per se). The subject here is power, and toes. These are odd and uneasy bedfellows, for power often steps on toes. That is its nature, and more so on a small island like ours. Problems arise when people hold different amounts of power, and particularly when power that is supposedly exercised on behalf of all citizens is instead exercised for the benefit of a few. The goings-on regarding the high-rise developments is a case in point. Any such development in any corner of Malta will impact just about everyone else. So why are they being rushed through the approval process? Why aren't the proper studies being conducted? Why the hurry to forge ahead and make permanent changes to Mal- ta's landscape without the proper consultation? Not only was the law rushed through Parliament at the time, but now individual de- velopments are also being rushed through the application process without the required studies. This begs the question – what are they afraid of? It seems that public scrutiny is being avoided. When matters are resolved in the dark, when rubber stamp meets paper in some back office, pow- er resides with those with deep pockets and good contacts. It is only when they are forced out into the open and fair regulations are respected, that the playing field is levelLed. People often respond to exhortations to take more of an active role with a coy, "But I don't want to step on any toes". Seem- ingly little care is given to the fact that developers and authorities are bulldozing over people's toes. From flouting regulations to ig- noring limits on work times to an utter lack of social impact aware- ness, it is they, not us, who are stepping on toes. Unfortunately, there seems to be a tendency in Malta for civil- ians to take a back role in shaping their own destiny. Some would say that this has historic roots, with over 2,000 years of strongly hierarchical foreign rule, where even the smallest decision was taken out of the public's hands, accompanied by a Church struc- ture that did not give the public a say in this important part of their lives. Even after Independence, many governments withheld in- formation and purposely kept people in the dark about their rights. But let us not lose hope. Things can change, as long as we remain vigilant and take a more active role in our destinies. The Govern- ment, in a week, U-turned from a position entirely against a tem- porary cessation of high-rise de- velopments to a position whereby some applications have their ap- proval blocked until a holistic plan is drawn up. This is evidence of the power that resides in us, that we too can wield when nec- essary. Public scrutiny of large- scale developments that will alter Malta should be the bare mini- mum of our demands, no matter whose toes we step on. Our own have been stepped on for long enough. Let us not lose hope. Things can change, as long as we remain vigilant and take a more active role in our destinies