Each EU member state should prepare a National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) to outline how the country intends to meet the EU energy and climate targets for 2030. This is a key policy document for climate and energy policy in Malta. At the end of June 2024, the official deadline for the updated plan, we shared our concern about the complete lack of public participation in the process of creating the new NECP for Malta. Since then, NGOs, including Friends of the Earth Malta, were invited to a stakeholder consultation at the Ministry of Energy at the end of July and were asked to submit our comments. Despite this being very late in the process, we compiled our feedback, in the hopes of providing critical feedback and points for improvement for the final NECP.
We are pleased to see the government’s commitment to upholding our targets as part of the Paris Agreement, the European Green Deal and the Fit for 55 Strategy, and its recognition that to do so, we need to increase the share of renewable energy and promote sustainable and active mobility. However, we note with concern that Malta registered the highest increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Over 75% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Malta come from the energy sector, with the main energy demand in Malta being for transport and buildings. Unfortunately, the current growth-based economic model is moving us further away from our emission reduction targets. We believe we need a new economic vision for Malta, beyond environmentally and socially damaging industries such as construction and over-tourism. The spatial limitations and infrastructural deficiencies of Malta need to be addressed with urgency.
The feedback document linked here, compiled by Friends of the Earth Malta with the input of other environmental NGOs – Din l-Art Ħelwa, Project Aegle Foundation, BirdLife Malta, and Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar – was submitted to the Ministry in August. The general public still has the opportunity to share their feedback until 1 September 2024, through the link here. We urge you to do so, to demand more ambitious climate and energy policy in Malta!