Rebecca Buttigieg rubbishes PN proposal to make environment a human right, wrongly claims this was done in 2018

The Nationalist Party is proposing what has already been done when advocating for the inclusion of the environment as a fundamental human right, Reforms Parliamentary Secretary Rebecca Buttigieg said on Monday.

“I think my colleague doesn't know that we already did that in 2018. In fact, even ADPD suggested that you are not proposing anything new," Buttigieg said.

However, the 2018 amendment to the Constitution was included in Chapter 2, which is a declaration of principles and unenforceable in a court of law, falling short of being a human right.

During TVM’s Xtra, PN MP Rebekah Borg brought up the public consultation initiated by the Nationalist Party to make the environment a human right.

"We are taking action regarding the environment... Factually, we are doing something. There is more work to be done, but I believe we will succeed," Borg said.

Last week, PN MP Darren Carabott, one of the proponents from the Opposition to put forward a private member’s Bill, told MaltaToday, the constitutional amendment will make governments think twice whenever proposing laws that impact the quality of life. 

“If the constitutional amendment is approved governments will be very careful to ensure that any rules they enact are not in breach of this human right,” he argued.