MTA aims for 2050 carbon neutrality for over 300 hotels

Study to establish carbon footprint of 321 licensed Maltese hotels to find out how they can reduce their operational carbon footprint

A hotel vista from Valletta
A hotel vista from Valletta

Each of Malta’s 321 licensed collective accommodation establishments will be subjected to an audit that will quantify their water and electricity consumption, in a bid to determine the carbon footprint of the tourism sector.

The study, issued for tender by the tourism ministry, will also present a breakdown by collective accommodation category.

The study will include recommendations on how the tourist accommodation sector can reduce its energy consumption and water usage in a “transition plan” to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, in line with the European Union’s Green New Deal.

Tourism contributes significantly to Malta’s carbon footprint, with record tourist arrivals in 2019 of 2.8 million tourists representing a 10% increase in seasonal population.

While acknowledging that the drop in economic activity during the pandemic had a “positive impact to the general environment” as a result of cleaner air, reduced waste and less fuel emission, the MTA predicts that energy and water consumption by tourists are now returning to normal levels.

Achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 in this post-pandemic reboot will require assisting the sector to achieve a “green recovery”.

The study’s terms of reference make no reference to embodied carbon, a term that describes the harmful greenhouse gases emitted during renovation and construction of hotels. On a global level, cement production contributes to about 7% of all carbon emissions.