Parliament to vote to declare Climate Change Emergency on 22 October

Parliament last night voted to add an amendment forwarded by Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change José Herrera which will add, as an amendment to the Climate Action Act, a declaration of a climate emergency to a motion tabled by the Nationalist Party. The final vote will take place on Tuesday 22 October.

The motion tabled by the Nationalist Party calls for the setting up of this committee which will have the responsibility to keep Malta on track with its aims in the fight against climate change.

The PN motion, which was proposed by MPs Jason Azzopardi, David Agius, Frederick Azzopardi, and Robert Cutajar, states that this committee will have, amongst others, the power to nominate a person to act as the Superintendent for Climate Change.

MPs Jason Azzopardi, Byron Camilleri, Robert Cutajar, Edward Zammit Lewis, Godfrey Farrugia, Carmelo Abela, Karl Gouder, Alex Muscat, Claudette Buttigieg and David Agius gave their thoughts during the debate on the motion put forward by the Nationalist Party.

Whilst the Nationalist Party MPs spoke in favour of their own motion and pointed out the various groups and organisations that agreed with their motion, the Labour Party MPs overwhelmingly criticised it for mistaken scientific statements it makes, and the ignoring of the Climate Action Act passed in 2015.

They also maintained that there was no need to set-up a permanent parliamentary committee or a new Superintendent position because they both already existed in Malta.