Lamberts is a prominent figure in the union. He is the co-president of one of the four major groups in the EU which consistently advocates for stronger, unionised efforts against the climate crisis – often saying “it is not our hobby horse, it is a question of survival”.

Moreover, following the SOTEU debates – where Lamberts made a weighted statement about the EU’s force against climate change – Lovin Malta held a quick interview with the co-president so that he could elaborate more on his urgent calls.

One of his main points, both in the interview and amid the debate, was that the already decided-upon climate proposals are not enough to meet the 1.5-degree warming target.

Meanwhile, when it comes to proposals, he explained that “not everything is being adopted” and that others are being adopted but at the expense of content. Here, he specifically referred to the nature restoration law.

“A lot more needs to be done; we have a lot of problems to solve.”

The nature restoration law was proposed by the Commission to restore ecosystems for the people, the climate, and the planet. It survived a dramatic vote within the European Parliament (EP) this summer by a very slim margin after more conservative MEPs attempted to block it.

Moreover, its contents were and are being debated and somewhat watered-down so that the Council, Parliament, and Commission all agree on the law’s final version.

The reasoning to block this law comes from the argument that the economy needs to be taken care of first and foremost, however, Lamberts simply rebutted by saying “there won’t be any economy left if human beings are killed off from the planet”.

“The economy is important but so is the environment; if all our efforts go to the economy and make the world unlivable then it doesn’t make sense,” he continued.

When asked whether he believes that Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen’s public declarations of commitment to reversing climate change are genuine he said, “I believe her”.

“But, she is coming from the EPP Group which has joined forces with two far-right groups in order to oppose a new air quality directive to preserve life. Tens of thousands of Europeans are dying from poor equality but you have von der Leyen’s group opposing this to preserve their own profit.”

Maltese MEP David Casa forms part of that group while EP President Roberta Metsola is also coming from it.

Moreover, Lamberts went on to say that funds like NextGenerationEU are important.

“I’m all for preserving industry, we have to be smart.”

Yet, he explained that the EU tends to show great concern when the Union’s profit takes a hit.

“You hear them saying that life is difficult but only because their profit is going down, it is greed.”

Ultimately, Lambert’s main point was that the EU needs a more unified and bold approach toward the climate crisis.

After all, time is ticking and when the planet erupts into flames, paper will be the first to burn.

Do you agree with Lamberts?