Minister stresses importance of shared responsibility in air quality plan

The fragmentation and duplication of work in the country's efforts to address air quality problems needs to be avoided in order to have a successful plan in the field, environment minister Leo Brincat said today.

The minister stressed that without such commitment the whole process would fail.

 Addressing the press together with German air quality expert Karl Ludwig Huttner, Brincat underlined the need for "shared responsibilities between all stakeholders and entities in Malta in the formulation and implementation of air quality policies and measures."

Pointing out that the country "can ill afford experiences of the past where different ministries worked on different air quality plans concurrently, Brincat advocated a structured approach.

Air pollution was one of the main concerns in Malta according to a number of surveys, including Eurobarometer and Brincat said that the government was committed to address the situation and maximise its efforts.

In addition, the biggest challenge of developed countries, including Malta, is the decoupling of economic growth and emissions, Brincat added.

"We need to look at countries ahead of us, such as Germany where emissions and economic growth are no longer intertwined and countries are now decoupling the two factors."

Brincat said that during an a recent meeting in Dublin for EU ministers the focus was on air quality in urban areas and the minister added that the EU was considering beefing up its air quality standards, regulations and awareness campaigns. 

"If we are not aware of what is at stake, the battle is lost," Brincat said.

Moreover, Brincat emphasised the need to "first fall within current standards and then think of extending and strengthening regulations."

Thanking the German expert for his presence, Brincat added that the two countries were discussing ways to adopt best practices, which Germany is currently embracing, and identify common concerns for the two EU member states.

Huttner, an air quality specialist at the German environment ministry, said that the main sources of emissions in Malta were car traffic, the power plant in Delimara and shipping. 

Asked what recommendations he would be making to the Maltese government, Huttner said that the German model showed that a plethora of measures could be implemented, however "there are no easy measures."

He singled out traffic as the main source of pollution and said that one of the measures which could be taken into consideration would be that of reducing the number of diesel engine cars on the streets.

Echoing Brincat, Huttner stressed that "before strengthening regulations, greater efforts need to be made to cut emissions within the current framework."