Climate Change Expert Calls Out Environment Minister For Ignoring ‘Dire Reality’ Facing Malta
A Maltese climate change expert has hit out at Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia for ignoring the dire reality facing the island in the wake of a global report which sounded a “code red for humanity”.
“It’s been over 36 hrs since the IPCC document of the decade was published,” John Paul Cauchi wrote yesterday.
“And yet, our Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning hasn’t posted a single comment on the document. Rather, he’s bothered showcasing some mostly unsustainable roundabout examples, which require excessive amounts of water to maintain.”
“Yesterday, he was too busy licking up votes from the feast of San Gejtanu in Ħamrun to bother commenting on the number one crisis facing our planet, which is a subject matter under his portfolio.”
“Our Prime Minister in the meantime was busy bragging about how Malta didn’t go down on Moody’s rating.”
“The wilful ignorance of these politicians when faced with the dire reality facing our island nation, along with the rest of the planet, is terrifying.”
“They proudly announce in their profiles that they are fathers, and yet their heart wouldn’t skip a beat thinking of their children’s future.”
“Stop voting for these losers. Wake the fuck up. Our collective future depends on our votes.”
Cauchi, a doctor who used to chair the TerraFirma collective of environmental NGOs, had carried out his doctoral research in Kiribati, a Pacific island that is estimated to be one of the first countries that sea levels will swallow up due to climate change.
He has used his firsthand experience on the island to urge his home country to wake up to the serious dangers of climate change and shift away from its car culture.
Farrugia has yet to comment on the latest report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which warned of extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding, with global temperatures set to reach 1.5C above 1850-1900 levels by 2040.
However, Malta’s Ambassador for Climate Action Simone Borg has warned the island risks becoming a desert within two generations, upending the agriculture and tourism sectors and wiping out the island’s natural habitat and wildlife.
Lovin Malta recently reached out to representatives of the Environment Ministry to request information on what concrete plans it has to address the climate emergency and was directed to the low carbon development strategy*, which sets targets for Malta to become climate neutral by 2050.
Cover photo: Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia, Inset photo: Jean Paul Cauchi
*A previous version of the article erroneously stated that Farrugia referred to the national sustainable development and action plan instead of the low carbon development strategy
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