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Malta Business Review
CLIMATE CHANGE
CLIMATE
change
The European Parliament’s ‘This Time
I’m Voting’ campaign went to Gozo with
a public discussion on the EU’s Roadmap
to fighting climate change
The topic of the debate was chosen
as a response to how climate
change has markedly increased as
one of the main concerns for the
Maltese people, as evidenced by the latest
Eurobarometer EU-wide survey published
last month- where it shot up dramatically
to second spot after migration.
In the context of the European elections
the citizens have a big role to play to push
elected representatives to make sure
fighting climate change becomes even
more of a political priority – speakers and
public concurred.
In her introductory remarks, Ms Anna
Zammit Vella, acting Head of the European
Parliament Office in Malta, highlighted
how three quarters of Europeans want the
EU to do more to protect the environment.
She outlined Parliament’s action and the
space it gave to the young Swedish green
activist Greta Thunberg who told MEPs to “
panic “ about climate change , as well as to
the debate of the Lead Candidates’ for the
44
Commission Presidency of the day before, in
which the lead candidates from the European
parties political talked action: not on if, but
rather how to tackle climate change.
In a keynote intervention, Mr. Baptiste
Chatain, European Parliament Environmental
Policies Specialist, said that a lot of change
had happened in the five years of the
mandate of the outgoing Parliament, mainly
due to MEPs being more connected to the
constituents. Today, four years after the Paris
Agreement and two years after the IPCC
report that showed the difference between
a ‘+1.5°C world’ and a ‘+2°C world’, there is
a greater sharing of goals as well as an evergrowing
consensus. The result is that policies
will get a lot more support in the EP today
than they did five years ago.
But which economic model do we want for
2050? Climate action is not punitive: the
more science and data we have the more it
shows that actually there are benefits too.
It is about framing innovation policies and
having investors in cars, appliances and
other industries on board so that we make
sure that money goes in the right direction.
Mr Chatain reminded that the EU is only
a fraction of the global scenario, and if we
are to move towards more ambition for
2050, it has to do this through the exercise
of climate diplomacy, and trying to pull
others to tow the same line. While some
would say that we should not move too
fast, at the same time we should show we
have the policies and that these policies
do work – he said. An example of this is
the recent agreement in Parliament for the
reduction of car emissions. He also added
that the more ambitious we are on cleaning
the transport sector, etc, the better quality
jobs we will have. Thus, it is also important
that the EU also aims at giving European car
manufacturers a competitive advantage.
With regards to single use plastics, society is
already ahead of lawmakers, and an example
of this is the 2014 plastic bag ban, where
people managed to make the switch without
a problem. This feedback teaches lawmakers
that Europeans in different countries are
probably ready to move towards more
environmentally-friendly policies.
Ms Kathiana Ghio, Deputy Head of Cabinet,
Environment Commissioner, EC, observed
that working globally is one of the main
tasks of the European Commission and
that tackling climate change only within
the EU will not by itself tackle climate
change. On the issue of how to reconcile
the EU’s macro perspective with people’s
everyday lives, she emphasized that when
taking the issue to the citizens, we need to
ensure that our policies are tailor-made to
the realities on the ground. It is imperative
for the citizens to know that their country
is part of burden-sharing exercise in
reducing CO2 emissions, and that their
daily actions - whether they’re driving
their car, consuming food and products,
or managing their garbage - impact this
shared effort.
Continued on page 48