7 minute read
ENVIRONMENT IN MALTA
from Show Case Malta 2020
by Mediahut Ltd
The carrot is stronger than the stick
If, as Charles René Mackintosh said, art is encapsulated by the flower and life by the leaf, then MINISTER AARON FARRUGIA certainly has life in his crosshairs. Speaking to Showcase Dubai, the minister responsible for the environment portfolio gave a 360° viewpoint of how his ultimate vision for a sustainable and greener Malta can be achieved – and the vision was an exciting one.
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Greenification is high on the agenda of Minister for the environment Aaron Farrugia. In his typically direct and no-nonsense approach, he was adamant, throughout the interview, of the need for the country to sharpen its focus on the colour green. “Greenification needs a substantial investment, similar to what has been ploughed into road infrastructure. We need a strategic and planned approach to landscaping our cities, similar to what happens in other countries,” said Minister Farrugia.
WHEN STONE GOES GREEN
Planning to go green in this way is a major challenge but it is also a case of making lemonade out of lemons, the lemons being the issues raised by the construction industry. Minister Farrugia minces no words. The recently published Quintano Report had identified various weak links in the construction industry and all the major stakeholders had gone on record accepting the report as seminal. “We will be adopting the recommendations of the Quintano Report, we will be updating the Structure Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED), we have published a Rural Policy for consultation and we are working in the direction of sustainability,” listed Minister Farrugia. These four elements, in themselves, should provide an excellent basis for an overhaul in the construction industry, but they were not enough for Minister Farrugia. Conscious of the moans of those whose eyes water at the sight of crudely designed buildings, the minister said that work is at an advanced stage on the compilation of a policy on aesthetics. “We are also planning on giving financial assistance and incentives to those who design development which is more sensitive and pleasing. We have, indeed, already implemented incentives for those who green their façades,” said Minster Farrugia. There is a caveat: comprehensive development will become mandatory. With laws of inheritance in Malta following the Mediterranean rather than the Nordic legal concepts, land fragmentation has not only affected agriculture but, nowadays, also construction. The minister was adamant that comprehensive construction is a way in which the discomfort caused by development in residential areas can be ring-fenced to a minimum number of months. “And we shall also be giving incentives for this to happen,” pointed out Minster Farrugia.
GROWING MALTA
The rate of construction in Malta has accelerated exponentially over the past few years. This has brought several beneficial spin-offs but also, inevitably, some challenges. A major challenge has been the disposal of construction waste. “We cannot keep on digging holes and re-filling them with construction waste,” said Minister Farrugia, referring to the current practice of the re-use of stone quarries as construction landfills. Looking to the future, the minister had a more creative solution: land reclamation. This solution has been successfully applied in various countries and with different end-products: from the residential model such as Dubai to the afforestation and nature conservation model such
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Through the ECOHIVE
as in the Netherlands. With a gleam in his eye, the minister said that land reclamation, with the appropriate studies and due respect to environmental issues can be the solution for the disposal of construction waste. He said that the reclaimed land need not be simply residential development but can also be key to providing greener environments for recreation.
STATE OF THE ART WASTE MANAGEMENT
The challenge of waste management is not restricted to construction waste. In a densely populated and affluent country like Malta, it is hardly surprising that a high volume of waste is generated. “This challenge we have faced and we are now in the process of transforming waste into a resource,” said Minister Farrugia. One of the first projects Farrugia announced when he was made minister a few months ago was the ambitious ECOHIVE project which is set to revolutionise the way the country approaches and manages waste. “Through the ECOHIVE project, which is a state-of-the-art project and will be up and running by 2024/2025, we are going to have four new plants which will revolutionise the way waste is processed here in Malta. This is a €500 million investment
by government, which will revolutionise the way we look at waste management,” declared Minister Farrugia. One plant will be a waste-to-energy plant converting waste to energy. Another plant will transform organic waste to compost. A third plant will involve material recovery to recycling and finally, a fourth plant for medical waste incineration. Even where commercial waste is involved, Minister Farrugia was adamant on separation. This is a 10 year waste management plan which would put Malta on the forefront of waste management capabilities.
AWAY FROM SINGLE USE
On the same vein of waste generation, Minister Farrugia pointed out that Malta was one of the first countries to move away from single use plastics. He said that in January 2021, Malta banned the importation of a large number of single-use plastic objects. The commercial sector had been advised, indeed, noted the minister, had been fully on board. He observed that in this issue, the industrial and commercial sector had clarity, both of target and of the way the target would be achieved “…and they were on board. They were also given a year’s time to be able to adapt and exhaust their current supplies. In January 2022, there will now be a ban on sale of single use plastics,” said Minister Farrugia. This was a brave step but one which seems to have paid off handsomely.
#CLIMATEON
Waste is not always tangible. It can also be rather more difficult to grasp. In this category falls the thorny issue of emissions. Malta is aiming at meeting its carbon emissions reduction target of 19% by 2055. Minister Farrugia noted that of all the emission types which Malta has to deal with, those caused by transport top the chart both in volume and in damage. This is a difficult conundrum. In a tiny island, everyone over the age of 18 seems to be wedded to their car even for the most minor of distances. This makes the challenge that much harder. “With the EU’s recovery and resilience plan now approved by parliament we can now plan ahead. We are planning to electrify 65,000 vehicles by 2030. This includes all the cars owned by all government entities as well as the start of an incentive scheme which will give the beneficiary up to €9,000 in grants to change from fossil fuel to electric car,” said Minister Farrugia. He added that currently there is a public consultation process underway to determine the optimum cut-off date for the importation of ICE (fossil fuel) vehicles.
TOWARDS A MORE INNOVATIVE LIFESTYLE
The second major culprit in emissions is the construction industry. Again, Minister Farrugia insisted on the use of incentives, adding with a smile his belief that the carrot always works better than the stick. He added that the costings on the plan have already been carried out and the targets mapped. To achieve these targets, Minister Farrugia is proposing a focus on renewables in the industry, such as the use of solar power, offshore wind installations and hydrogen among others. “Malta has committed to also move towards the EU’s collective efforts of climate neutrality by 2050,” said Minister Farrugia. Indeed the same ambition is also embedded in Malta’s post-pandemic economic vision and incentives. This change calls for a paradigm shift towards policy-making, which centres around intelligent development principles. And within this line of thought, said the minister, Malta will fulfil its commitment though the adoption of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Furthermore, it calls for further public awareness and education to facilitate this transaction. “ ‘Turn On the Power for Change’, the #ClimateOn campaign aims at changing the general public’s habits towards a more innovative way of life,” smiled Minister Farrugia in conclusion. n
