Is Malta sustainable? More work needed towards ecological transition

Malta ranks 97th out of 165 countries in the Sustainable Development Index (SDI), which measures the ecological efficiency of human development across countries.

The index measures the extent to which a country’s human development is compatible with planetary boundaries. It offers an alternative to the Human Development Index, by going a step further to incorporate ecological sustainability into overall wellbeing.

In fact, Malta generally scores high in the UN’s Human Development Index, ranking 28th in the HDI and 22nd in the inequality-adjusted HDI. But once ecological sustainability comes in Malta drops to the lower percentile.

Starting with a human development score, the index incorporates material footprint and CO2 emissions. It measures the total weight of material extracted and consumed by a country, as well as emissions involved in producing and shipping goods around the world.

Meanwhile, the development index incorporates life expectancy, years in schooling, and income per capita.

Malta scored 0.56 on the index, below the world average of 0.69. With a life expectancy of 82.5 years and an average 11.3 years of schooling, it also enjoyed some of the higher levels of income per capita.

But Malta also scores high in material footprint per capita, coming in 28th place with 24.41 tonnes worth of material. CO2 emissions total 5.43 tonnes for the islands.

The front runner is Costa Rica, scoring 0.85 in the SDI. Costa Rica scores similarly to Malta in human development, but its CO2 emissions and material footprint are far lower, at 2.46 and 8.1 tonnes respectively.

The biggest offender, or most ecologically inefficient country, is Singapore. The island microstate scored 0.099, churning out 17.4 tonnes of CO2 per capita with a material footprint of 77.4 tonnes.

How does Malta compare to its counterparts?

Compared to similar-sized micronations, Malta has a high material footprint. In fact, it ranks third among the microstates sandwiched between Iceland (33.94 tonnes) and Seychelles (22.07 tonnes). At the bottom is Sao Tome and Principle, with only 5.83 tonnes worth of material footprint.

Malta fares better in CO2 emissions. From 13 microstates, Malta comes in 8th with 5.4 tonnes of CO2. It is followed closely by Barbados, with 5.29 tonnes.

In terms of national income, Malta sits between Bahrain and the Bahamas with $39,555 per capita, calculated on purchasing power parities against the 2017 benchmark.

But when compared to fellow EU member states, Malta ranks sixth in the SDI. The Maltese islands emit some of the lowest levels of CO2 per capita, at 5.43 tonnes. Even its material footprint per capita falls towards the median.

The bigger picture

Over time, Malta’s SDI remained steady. It peaked in 2001 at 0.62 and scored its lowest ranking in 2008 at 0.4. Its material footprint has also remained steady since 2008, and CO2 emissions have dipped over the years.

Countries all over the world are trying to lower their carbon emissions in line with global efforts to mitigate climate change. Earlier this year, the European Commission adopted the Fit for 55 package and increased its original 40% reduction target by 2030 to 55%.

Malta managed to retain a 19% reduction target in carbon emissions for 2030, down from a higher 36% request after talks with the European Commission.

Government had in fact argued Malta was already the bloc’s lowest emitter per capita and that it required carbon-reduction parameters that it could realistically achieve.