Updated: Climate Change Mitigation report ‘nearing completion’ -- Pullicino

Brincat lamented that despite the fact that this committee was supposed to have concluded its job by last March, “Despite the fact that four months have passed from that date, we have never heard that the report has been neither concluded, nor published.”

“One hopes that this work does not procrastinate further while wishing that as happened with the climate change mitigation report, this report should be discussed in Parliament as soon as possible after the Summer holidays,” Brincat augured.

However, he warned that the most important thing in this respect is not only to have a report but also to have a benchmarking mechanism “so that the agreed measures can be measured and their implementation even monitored”.

Brincat insisted how such a report was needed for Malta because it would lead for a strategy “on how to adapt for the effects of climate change in a number of sectors, including health, water and flooding, up to farming, tourism and biodiversity”.

Climate Change Mitigation report ‘nearing completion’ -- Pullicino

In a statement less than two hours later in reaction to Brincat’s statement, Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino announced that he was informed by the Chairman of the Climate Change Mitigation report that the technical report was “at the end of its completion process”

He explained how a technical report like this, which was being compiled by various technical people “in a voluntary manner”, might take “slightly more” to be completed.

According to Pullcino, this was not done “capriciously” but to enable the committe to discuss the various subjects “in a deeper way”.

He announced that once the document was finalised, it would be open for public consultation, including in parliamenent.

“I will expect that the Oppostion  puts forward its proposals during the public consultation period and not remain silent,” the Resources and Rural Affairs Minister insisted.