Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/817563
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 APRIL 2017 26 Editorial Din l-Art Helwa vice-president Martin Scicluna delivered Friday a warning for people to think about Malta's "future survival" in a hard-hitting address on climate change. Speaking at the Atlas Today seminar at Palazzo Capua, Scicluna pitted the stark choice on the sustainability of the island between either confronting the challenge of climate change, or stay complacent at the threat to present and future generations. "Many people in Malta prefer to place a very low value on the future… we must think long term. We cannot afford complacency where our own future survival is at stake…. If climate change is not halted, our coun- try as we know it today will be, at best, largely unrecognisable and, at worst, obliterated." Addressing a host of ambassadors, former and present MPs, and envi- ronmental lobbyists, Scicluna dubbed climate change as "mankind's greatest trial", speculating an estimated 270,000 Maltese victims "and many unborn still to come." Callling it the "most formidable chal- lenge confronting Malta between now and 2030", Scicluna, a former advisor to the British ministry of defence, said Malta had just a few years to draw up a survival plan. "Those of you in this room who are in their 50s will live through the consequences of climate change. Your children and grand children will see at first hand how, or whether, Malta rises to the challenges ahead." Scicluna also warned that Malta's economic growth was imperilled by a continued degradation to the environ- ment and people's quality of life. "Our environmental policies have lagged sadly behind. For the last 20 years or so, Malta has opted for economic growth, combined with social improvements, at the cost – almost invariably – of our en- vironmental quality of life. The penalty for economic growth has been heavy." Among the effects of the rise in temperature, Scicluna pinpointed water shortage and energy security. "The impact of climate change on Malta will lead to more extreme and haphaz- ard weather patterns with prolonged Saharan heat-waves, shorter and more intense rainy periods and longer, dryer spells. Malta's attraction as a tourist destination will be undermined – with all the economic consequences that follow. "Soil erosion will be accelerated. Lack of water in the soil and rising sea levels will lead to increased salinity. Crop yields will be diminished. The process of 'desertification' will become unstop- pable. Sea levels will rise and many low- lying areas will be submerged. Malta as we know it today will be unrecognis- able." Scicluna lamented the lack of attention given to efforts by the national com- mission for sustainable development, of which he forms part, to push forward its strategy plan for sustainability. "The need for a proper survival plan – a sustainability plan – is now all the more vital if we are to come through the next testing years with our economy and the welfare safety net intact… Twelve months ago the commission presented a much lauded national strategy for sustainable development at a national forum. But since then it has languished. Cabinet has yet to approve the strategy. More importantly, the gov- ernment has yet to agree to the estab- lishment of a full-time team to drive the sustainability plan forward." He called for Malta to shift to a low- carbon economy through greater energy efficiency, and the diversification of energy sources and supplies, citing offshore wind energy and solar energy sources, and even nuclear sources. "We have to examine all the options with an open mind." He also questioned the tolerance of illegal extraction of water in the Maltese islands and the effects this had on the water table. "When will the National Water Policy be revealed and imple- mented? Should we not be paying a proper economic price for our water use to drive home the need to conserve it? Can our water resources continue to cope with the requirements of over one million tourists a year?" But he also pointed out that Malta's system of government militated against the crucial mitigation measures that had to be taken. "By their nature, politicians look two or three years ahead to the next election. Politics here reminds me of trench warfare." News – 29 April, 2007 Malta faces obliteration if climate change is not halted