#ClimateOn – are you ready to Activate Change?

Climate Change is hitting our world faster as we speak. News about the current changes in the planet’s climate are transforming the world. Over the last two decades we have experienced 18 of the warmest years on record, and extreme weather events, such as forest fires, heatwaves and floods, are becoming more frequent both in Europe and elsewhere.

However this news is not new anymore and it seems that individuals have gotten accustomed to hearing about such news on social media, television and other media mediums. So the question which arises next would be: What is being done to fight Climate Change?

For one the EU has set up the 2050 targets and is aiming to fight climate change through ambitious policies to meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target to further cut emissions. Looking more closely at the local scene, in response to the climate change crisis, the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise (MEEE) has launched the second edition of a Nation-wide public awareness campaign to continue promoting climate action amongst the key industry stakeholders and the general public at large. The #ClimateOn – Activate Change Campaign aims at changing the general public’s habits towards a more innovative way of life while highlighting the benefits of a low-carbon society.

During last year the first ever national conference was organised to gain momentum on climate action amongst stakeholders. The campaign continued on this year with the second edition through closed discussions addressing sustainable mobility, sustainable finance and sustainable energy use – three contributing factors to climate change.

The seminar on mobility discussed at length the contribution of road transport as a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in Malta and hence why there is a need to change the way we move – literally from point A to point B. The discussion at this seminar identified the lack of knowledge and risk of misinformation that may prejudice the sustainable mobility shift.

Clearly, there is the need for more education and awareness and to encourage further the modal shift, be it through opting to use more public transport, carpooling or even biking for our daily commute.

Every citizen needs to understand that a change in behavior towards the modal shift is fundamental to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road transport. During the discussions, stakeholders even mentioned the need for a more efficient public transport system. In addition, attention should also be given on other options of public transport as well as improving on walkability and cycling around our islands.

Moving on to energy efficiency – the spotlight was shed on buildings in particular. This is mainly due to the fact that energy use in buildings is another major contributor towards climate change. Energy efficiency, or sustainable energy use, is basically utilising less energy consumption in buildings required to perform the same operation as those buildings utilising more energy inefficiently.

Various stakeholders made reference to Malta’s energy vision focusing on energy efficiency, direct electrification and the need for more dependency on clean sources of energy such as renewable energy systems. This would only be possible if standards and regulations are imposed. Similar to the other seminars, stakeholders agreed upon the importance of educational and awareness building programmes.

However, as with anything – balance is important and there needs to be an equal weight between enforcement and education. Adding on to this, discussions also led towards the importance of creating a centralized point of contact for the public as opposed to having multiple entities/regulators all managing similar sectors individually. The element of support through schemes for the general public and businesses alike also emerged, and although such support is beneficial, ultimately it is up to each and every individual to make the little changes in their everyday life.

The third sector comes into force – finance. Without finance all of the above suggestions would be futile. During the sustainable finance stakeholder dialogue seminar discussions implied that there are inactive funds which could be potentially invested directly towards green projects and sustainable companies.

Additionally, there is also the need to stimulate demand for green products and services across sectors ranging from green construction to green loans as this will instigate investment. This would in turn lead towards the activation of change that Malta truly needs in the fight against climate change.

By being at the driving-seat of national climate action, Malta will continue to provide the required platform to all relevant stakeholders and provide the necessary empowerment to tackle challenges arising from climate change, whilst finding solutions which will ultimately determine and impact the future and truly activate change!