11/03/2026
Roll out renewable energy rapidly to increase resilience in times of political uncertainty, urges Friends of the Earth Malta
Recent wars involving major oil and gas-producing countries have revealed a vulnerability in Malta’s dependency on volatile oil and gas markets. Most recently, with Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz – through which 20% of the world’s seaborne oil and gas pass through – and oil and gas prices rising rapidly as a result, Prime Minister Robert Abela, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana, and Energy Minister Miriam Dalli have already stated that the Maltese Government will be shielding Maltese citizens from any potential increases in prices. While the government’s commitment to shielding citizens from immediate price hikes may provide essential short-term social protection, it remains a temporary fix that fails to address the underlying vulnerability of our fossil-fuel-dependent energy system.
At a time when the effects of the climate crisis are increasingly being felt and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, we should be reducing our dependency on harmful fossil fuels as quickly as possible to avoid runaway climate change. While a war can easily increase the prices of fossil fuels, and thus of energy more broadly, a country is much more resilient to such shocks when its energy mix is based on renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy.
Other countries, such as Uruguay, have already learnt how being dependent on fossil fuels leaves them vulnerable to shocks. In the space of only a decade, the country went from being highly dependent on imported fossil fuels to generating 98% of its energy from renewable sources, after experiencing an energy crisis in 2008. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union also tried to increase the share of renewable energy to reduce its dependency on Russian gas – but fossil fuels still account for a significant source of energy across the union. Since the US and Israel began bombing Iran, Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) prices in Europe have already increased by 50%. Rolling out renewable energy is thus a matter of energy security and sovereignty, as well as being smart climate policy.
In Malta, only 17.2% of energy comes from renewable sources, despite significant potential for solar and wind energy. Meanwhile, the transport sector is still highly dependent on private vehicles running on internal combustion engines, with limited efforts to encourage alternative means of transport and the electrification of remaining vehicles. This leaves us vulnerable to shocks such as energy crises, despite renewable sources of energy being readily available and also significantly cheaper than fossil fuels. A rapid roll-out of renewable energy would also mean that taxpayers’ money no longer subsidises climate-wrecking fossil fuels while also creating green jobs. Climate Campaign Coordinator at Friends of the Earth Malta, Dr Suzanne Maas, said that “shifting to renewable energy sources is an opportunity to shield families from the shocks of increased energy prices, ensuring we can produce enough energy to cover our basic energy needs, and makes Malta more resilient”.
Climate action and the pursuit of energy security go hand in hand, delivering economic benefits including stable energy prices and increased resilience in an uncertain world.