Speaker of the House of Representatives Anġlu Farrugia has addressed remotely the participants at the Speakers’ Summit of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM), which is being held in Brussels.
In his address, Speaker Farrugia said that, according to the UN Environment Programme, the Mediterranean region is warming 20% faster than the global average. Coastal zones face heightened disaster risks, including flooding and erosion, and the salinisation of river deltas and aquifers which sustain food security and livelihoods. He also said that, by 2050, water demand is projected to double or even triple, but that 2°C of global warming will reduce precipitation by ~10 to 15%. An increase of 2°C to 4°C would reduce precipitation by up to 30% in Southern Europe. Water temperature is expected to rise by between 1.8°C and 3.5°C by 2100 with hotspots in Spain and in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Speaker Farrugia said that climate change is the most enduring threat to our future and thus it is up to the national parliaments to monitor the COP26 climate change targets and maintain oversight on governments and their polices.
He also informed that this year Malta has embarked on an ambitious 30-year journey towards decarbonisation which involves a Low Carbon Development Strategy and a plan to have cleaner vehicles on our roads.
The Speaker said that Malta has various legally binding targets to meet by 2030 as an EU member state, yet it leads by example, as it has updated the Climate Change Act. This primary legislation contributes to the mitigation of climate change by limiting anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gas sinks and reservoirs, whilst also addressing adaptation to climate change by requiring the government to take measures for the prevention, avoidance and reduction of the adverse impacts of climate change.
In his concluding remarks, Speaker Farrugia urged those present at the conference to work together to combat the problem of climate change.
Photo: SPK
