Ira Losco named goodwill ambassador for sustainable development

Ira Losco named goodwill ambassador for sustainable development • Video Ray Attard

Leo Brincat on sustainable development • Video by Ray Attard

Maltese singer and personality, Ira Losco has been chosen as goodwill ambassador for sustainable development, in an effort to raise more awareness about the importance of sustainable development.

“I am very honoured by this title, and I understand it is a great responsibility,” Losco said. Addressing an international audience of representatives of the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development (MCSD), Losco pointed out that this was an entirely different context  to what she is accustomed to.

“I will do my best to use my position to promote sustainable development in my every day life and to bring this concept closer to members of society who might not be aware of how the can make a change themselves.”

"Some concepts and terminology might seem complicated to some people, and I believe it will be my task to help society understand that they need not necessarily be so confusing," she added.

At the Conference on the review of Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development, environment minister Leo Brincat spoke about the importance of having a guiding strategy to inspire and direct activities in sustainable development that can benefit all stakeholders and members of the public both in the country and especially in the Mediterranean region.

“The Malta Presidency of the Steering Committee for the MCSD, has emphasized the importance of a participatory approach in policymaking,” he added.

Brincat said that it was particularly important for the Mediterranean sustainable development action plan to move into implementation as soon as possible, particularly given the three milestones that sustainable development will be at the top of the global agenda this year.

“We should be part of the momentum building towards the three milestone events of this year- the Third International Conference on Financing Development, the post-2015 Sustainability Summit in New York and the critical UN climate conference set for December in Paris,” Brincat said.

Brincat said that the conference should serve as a catalyst to set the direction for change and transformation:

“The status quo is not an option. The message can only be conveyed to others if we show that we are convinced of this through our own actions.”

Brincat stressed the importance of enacting plans and not just making plans and strategies.

“Any strategies and action plans that remain either grounded or detached from present day realities run the risk of ending up as mere wish lists.”

Brincat also stressed the importance of globalization and the regional aspect in the issue:

“We need to think and act globally, regionally ad also locally. The countries of our region share many similaritiesm both environmental and other aspects that relate to ways of working brought about by our shared history. It therefore continues to make sense for us to seek common solutions to common problems.”

Brincat added that we should actively promote regional development and synergies to push trade and investment and at the same time maintain sustainability.

Brincat concluded by underlining the importance of including all key players in the discussion, as the private sector’s creative power for instance could help to bring new ideas forward and “help us all meet the needs of a resource constrained but thoroughly connected world.”