Make your voice heard! Join us in Valletta Million of supporters of Friends of the Earth International worldwide want the United Nations (UN) climate talks talking place until the 18 December to become a milestone towards ‘Climate Justice’, but the chances of achieving a just and effective UN agreement in Copenhagen are extremely slim. To demonstrate their desire for climate justice, thousands of people are expected to ‘flood’ the streets of Copenhagen in the morning of December 12 in a march organized by FoEI to demand climate justice and an end to carbon offsetting, which is a false solution to...
EU: Up Your Targets at Copenhagen
Europe must commit to at least 40% emissions reductions by 2020 without offsetting Europe must commit to at least 40% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 without offsetting, Friends of the Earth International urged today as European Heads of State meet in parallel to the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen. The meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 December will discuss climate change and emissions targets for the EU with serious implications for the ongoing international talks. The European Union has to date committed to a 20% emission cut by 2020, and pledged...
Climate Action Day – ACT NOW
12.12.09 – Beat the Change Friends of the Earth Malta will be joining millions of people around the world in a bid to raise awareness on climate change. A series of events will be organised in Valletta on the 12th of December to coincide with the annual United Nations Climate Talks which are taking place this year in Copenhagen, Denmark. The day will kick off at 10:00 with the launch of a short film called “Beat the Change” at St. James Cavalier, and a forum discussion on climate change – “Beat the Change – Invest in climate solutions”. Local food...
Reforming Public Transport for a Greener Future
Friends of the Earth Malta welcomes the decision to reform the public transport system in Malta as a long awaited and much needed move for the country. Aiming for a more efficient system means more people may be willing to leave their cars at home and use this service. The benefits are widespread ,less traffic coongestion, less noise and less pollution. Friends of the Earth Malta states that public transport should continue to be regulated by government. In the hands of a private business, routes which do not provide a large profit margin may be left out. For these reforms...
Budget 2010: Was Budget 2010 green enough?
Energy and renewables Friends of the Earth Malta welcomes the funds allocated in the Budget 2010 for environmental projects and alternative energy. However Friends of the Earth Malta (FoE Malta) states that in some aspects the budget was lacking in long term social and environmental vision. The utility charges penalise basic consumption. Government should protect basic consumption and penalize waste using the polluter-pays-principal as a guiding concept and a scientific study on energy consumption as the determining mark by which the subsidy is regulated. FoE Malta is aware that we have failed once more to adopt a sensible version of...
The climate is changing, are you?
On Friday 6th November, Friends of the Earth Malta held a climate forum to close the international photographic exhibition on climate change, The climate is changing are you? The exhibition was very successful, attracting lots of attention, questions and feedback from visitors. The selected 18 photographs were exhibited between September and October in Sliema, Birgu, Santa Venera Birkirkara and at University. The climate forum was held as a platform to discuss the threat climate change poses locally and what strategies are required to provide long-term solutions. Guest speaker Eur. Ing. Charles Yousif explained that energy efficiency measures and renewable energy...
NGOs welcome Fomm Ir Rih Land reclamation
Friends of the Earth Malta together with the Environmental NGOs Nature Trust (Malta), Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Light Pollution Awareness Group, Din L-Art Helwa and BirdLife Malta welcome the news that Parliamentary Secretary Dr Jason Azzopardi has successfully reclaimed the area between Fomm ir Rih and Gnejna. This sizeable tract of relatively unspoiled land and coast is not only considered to be of high ecological importance but also has high landscape value. Thanks to this recommendable move by Dr Azzopardi this part of Malta is now public property and can be enjoyed by both Maltese and tourists alike. The NGOs...
Are we really living in the Age of Stupid?
In what can be considered a truly global event about a global issue, Friends of the Earth Malta and St. James Cavalier hosted the age of stupid, a new epic from McLibel director Franny Armstrong. In a cinema filled to capacity, viewers at St James joined another million viewers in 63 countries to watch the global premier of what has been cited as one of the most important films of our time. Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate...
NGOs voice their Concern on Environment Enforcement
The Environmental NGOs Friends of the Earth Malta, Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Ramblers Association and Nature Trust (Malta), Birdlife Malta and Din L-Art Helwa have expressed their disappointment and concern as to how the Enforcement Unit within the MEPA Environment Directorate is being dismantled and officers in this unit were being distributed into other units within the same authority The NGOs voice their concern that environmental law enforcement within Mepa has already been very poor. With such a strategy it will now become worse and a free-for-all situation. This move simply shows the low level of commitment accorded to environmental...
Strategic Environmental Assessment for Eco-Gozo
 Friends of the Earth Malta would like to commend government for following up on the long promised Eco-Gozo plan. This should hopefully serve as a test case which would eventually lead to a similar plan being implemented on a national level. However such a plan would not be comprehensive unless it undergoes a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). As no mention to SEA is made in the press statement issued by the Ministry for Gozo, FoE Malta questions whether such a study has been made or is forthcoming. If this were not the case, then it does not add up...