European Mobility Week On Sunday 17 September, we took our cargo bike to Siggiewi, where together with other organisations we participated in European Mobility Week activities on the village square. It was a beautiful quiet morning to ride through the streets of Hamrun and Qormi, the valley to Zebbug and finally onwards to Siggiewi. At the square, Dawra Madwarna, a collective promoting better urban planning and public spaces for play and connection, and Project Aegle Foundation (PAF), an NGO promoting sustainable mobility and active travel to schools, had set up an area with activities for children. Our cargo bike was...
Join Malta Meat Free Week 2023!
Get ready for the much-anticipated 6th edition of Malta Meat Free Week, an annual event that celebrates the joy of plant-based living! Malta Meat Free Week is organised by VeggieMalta and will be running from the 16th to the 22nd of October. The festivities kick off even earlier, with participating supermarkets offering an array of plant-based brands starting from the 9th of October, setting the stage for a week of delicious and sustainable dining experiences. Seven facts why you should care about the challenge: #1: 6 million animals are killed for food every hour. In just one day, over 150...
Feedback on the draft National Policy for Offshore Renewable Energy
Last week, Friends of the Earth Malta submitted their comments and feedback to the draft National Policy for the Deployment of Offshore Renewable Energy. Malta has one of the lowest RES shares in the EU, so there is a strong need to ramp up efforts, to reduce fossil fuel dependence and increase energy security. Given this, we are happy to see the government committing to accelerated ambitions for the transition to renewable energy sources (RES) and the ambition for the country to be climate neutral in 2050. However, many questions remain unclear, including, for example, how will this increased ambition...
Growing a Sustainable Future: Empowering Youth through Green Entrepreneurship and Social Permaculture
Introduction As the climate crisis intensifies and the window for corrective action narrows, the global community is becoming increasingly alert to the need for sustainable practices. From alarming rates of deforestation to rising sea levels, the urgency of the environmental issues we face cannot be overstated. One group that has been especially vocal and active in advocating for environmental sustainability is the youth. Whether it’s through climate strikes, social media campaigns, or innovation, young people are playing a crucial role in driving positive change. Against this backdrop, green entrepreneurship has emerged as a transformative model that perfectly aligns with the...
October Plant of the Month: Sticky Fleabane (MT: Tulliera Komuni) Dittrichia viscosa
Photo and text by Annalise Falzon This hardy native which grows virtually anywhere adds a touch of brightness to any drab landscape with its yellow flowers between September and November -a great pollinator plant especially for caterpillars of butterflies and moths. It is not the most popular of plants owing to its sticky leaves with glandular hairs which release pungent oils. Its highly aromatic properties are often perceived as unpleasant and indeed its strong smell was thought to repel fleas (‘fleabane’ from the archaic word bane which refers to plants with toxic qualities). This perennial shrub has long been used...
Civil society comment on Fossil Fuel Finance Policy of European Bank (EBRD)
Today, 130 civil society organizations from more than 40 countries have launched a statement calling on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to end finance to all fossil fuels, including gas. The EBRD is currently preparing a new Energy Sector Strategy 2024-2028, which is expected to be published by the end of the year. The EBRD is the third biggest funder of fossil fuels among all multilateral development banks, behind the World Bank Group and the Islamic Development Bank. From 2018 to 2021 it provided EUR 2.9 billion to the fossil energy sector. The EBRD has already excluded...
Recommendations on Malta’s National Strategy and Action Plan for Pollinators 2035
Friends of the Earth Malta has submitted recommendations on Malta's National Strategy and Action Plan for Pollinators 2035. The strategy should aim to set a number of key proposals to safeguard all pollinators given their role in pollinating many food crops and wild plants and their contribution to our food production and the diversity of our environment.
Friends of the Earth Malta joins the request to withdraw Energy Charter Treaty
Today, the discussion on the future of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) continues in EU negotiations. Friends of the Earth Malta is supporting a broad European civil society alliance to push for EU member states to leave the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). This international treaty allows fossil fuel companies to sue states in private arbitration courts if they enact new laws on climate protection. The ECT is a barrier to the energy transition, is incompatible with EU law and undermines the European Green Deal. A growing number of EU member states already agree with ECT withdrawal, such as Germany, France,...
Empowering Communities: our information session on renewable energy
On Monday 4 September, Friends of the Earth Malta organised an information session on Renewable Energy Communities together with the Malta Cooperative Federation, supported by REScoop.eu, the European federation for citizen energy cooperatives. ⠀ The event aimed to inform stakeholders from government entities about the potential of renewable energy cooperatives (RECs); community-led and not-for-profit initiatives to get involved in the production, selling, sharing or storing of renewable energy, as well as energy efficiency projects. ⠀ Dirk Vansintjan, the president of REScoop.eu and founder of Ecopower, the largest citizen energy cooperative of Belgium, explained how energy communities empower citizens to transform from...
Failure is not an option: Malta’s waste management crisis
Malta’s waste management crisis is a complex problem. Decades of overconsumption and a lack of political will to address the issue have led to a situation where the country is producing more waste than it can sustainably manage. The problem has been exacerbated in recent years by the country’s growing population, the tourism boom, and the “growth at all costs” mantra. The collective unlearning of a lifestyle which almost encourages wastefulness will not come easy as can be seen from the current resistance we have seen recently. The government has taken some bold steps to address the problem, such as...