On the occasion of Environment Day 2022, which is observed annually on the 5th June, the Interdiocesan Environment Commission (KA) appeals to the authorities to protect agricultural land and open spaces, to focus on alternative sources of energy and urgently revise current policies that are, by design, intended to serve narrow interests and irrevocably compromise the natural heritage of the Maltese Islands.

Decisive action to shift towards renewable sources of energy but not at the expense of agriculture

The current senseless war against Ukraine has brought to the fore the importance of being less reliant on fossil fuels and the importance of agricultural activity that feeds populations. National plans and commitments to make the shift to renewable energy must be reviewed and implemented. However, the shift to renewable energy must not be at the expense of the preservation of agricultural land. Both the harnessing of renewable sources of energy and the preservation of agricultural land are of national importance. They are not mutually exclusive. Agricultural practices, when they respect environmental laws and regulations, apart from preserving a nation’s cultural heritage, are also guarantors of countryside stewardship.

It is very encouraging that young people are still interested in becoming farming entrepreneurs. The authorities should fully support such entrepreneurship – and that of elder farmers – by granting Maltese agricultural land a special protection status as a strategic resource and protecting farmers from evictions from the land that they till.

In this context, infrastructural projects need to be reassessed to avoid the take-up of agricultural land. The KA also appeals to the authorities to ensure that there is no abuse of national or EU funds by those who may register themselves as part-time farmers in order to be eligible for such funding, thus making such funding unavailable to other really deserving bona fide part-time and full-time farmers. 

Urgent need to review current planning policies to save the environment 

This appeal has been repeated often by the KA for several years. Promises of new policies to save the environment are futile because the problem is not the absence of policies but rather the lack of political will to change policies that have been designed not to serve the common good but the interests of the few. This lack of action to review current policies seems to indicate that perhaps the only effective way to save the Maltese environment is through enhanced militancy from environmental groups, groups of local residents and local councils. It is only when public protests are held that some action is taken. The careful consideration of the common good in drafting or reviewing plans and policies seems to be missing and the few, who have better access to the authorities, seem to have the upper hand in policy-making.  The KA is thus appealing to the authorities to:

  • Publish the revision of the Rural Policy and Design Guidance 2014. The public consultation for the revision of this policy ended in August 2020, almost two years ago. Since then, more buildings have been given permission to be erected outside development zones on the basis of the existence of ruins in the countryside. Such buildings are being erected despite the official position that development zones have not been extended. This policy allows buildings to be constructed almost anywhere in the countryside.
  • Revise the Development Control Design Policy, Guidance and Standards 2015 which is wreaking havoc on Gozo’s ridges. The maquis which graces such ridges is being ravaged by a policy that its drafters and the authorities that approved it knew – or at least should have known – the effects such policy change would lead to.
  • Open spaces in urban areas need to be protected. The creation of the much-needed open spaces in urban areas cannot be hijacked by the presence of kiosks, areas for tables and chairs, or even by the provision of overground parking spaces. The creation of catering or commercial establishments alongside promenades, thus blocking sea views in already densely populated areas, does not fit into the idea of creating open spaces in urban areas. The authorities are invited to make urban areas more liveable for the local residents and not just more commercially viable for some entrepreneurs.  

Conclusion

The KA augurs that Pope Francis’ first official speech in Malta during his April 2022 visit will not fade from memory but inspire Christians, non-Christians, whoever is in power and whoever challenges those who are in power, to take care of our Common Home:

“The environment in which we live is a gift from heaven, as your national anthem also recognizes, by asking God to preserve the beauty of this land, a mother dressed by brightest light. In Malta, where the luminous beauty of the landscape alleviates difficulties, creation appears as the gift that, amid the trials of history and life, reminds us of the beauty of our life on earth. It must therefore be kept safe from rapacious greed, from avarice and from construction speculation, which compromises not only the landscape but the very future. Instead, the protection of the environment and the promotion of social justice prepare for the future and are optimal ways to instil in young people a passion for a healthy politics and to shield them from the temptation to indifference and lack of commitment.” [1]

[1] Excerpt from Pope Francis’ Address at the President’s Palace to Members of Government and the Diplomatic Corps, Religious and Civil Authorities and Representatives of Social and Cultural Life. 2nd April 2022