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Malta Should Lower Scooter Driving Age to 16, Green NGOs Propose

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Three green NGOs – Friends of the Earth Malta, Moviment Graffitti and BirdLife Malta – have released a document calling for the lowering of the national scooter driving age (max capacity: 150cc) to 16-years-old along with a plethora of sustainable policies to be implemented in Malta’s current Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

“The Low Carbon Development Strategy fails to deliver the full extent of actions and measures required to realistically meet the overarching carbon neutrality target by 2050,” the document said.

“There is no room for half-measures.”

The document criticises the strategy’s “narrow” scope and “vague” descriptions and provides subsequent suggestions that touch on almost all aspects of the strategy, and their most notable ones fall under the category of transport measures.

Besides lowering the scooter driving age, the NGOs called for a drastic restructuring of the transport sector to address the discrepancy between the 19% emission reduction target that the LCDS draft is based on as opposed to the revised 30-35% reduction target.

For this section, they explained that Malta is “besieged by a frenzy of tree-cutting and the destruction of agricultural land sacrificed to road widening and construction”, due to the unfounded belief that these would reduce traffic and travelling distances.

Studies carried out by Maltese authorities confirm that new and widened roads will not save the country from gridlock but shifting to alternative means of transport will.

They further censured a comment made in the Impact Assessment for the Transport sector of the LCDS which said that “free public transport may disincentivise innovation/competition in this market”.

The NGOs said that this goes against “all logical plans” and that it shows the “bias” towards the car industry.

They further said that, free or not, public transport needs to become more reliable and efficient with shorter and more bus routes, smaller buses, additional routes that cover all locations and more frequent bus trips, especially during rush hour.

They also criticised the fuel Internal Combustion Engine ban and remote working proposals for being “too vague”. The former did not specify a cut-off point while the latter involves no concrete description.

They further suggested that the government engage in remote or hybrid working within its ministries to “lead by example”.

Regarding parking, they proposed the introduction of communal or residential parking schemes to “give back public space to citizens”.

They recommend a number of suggestions regarding commuting alternatives, some of which include; the removal of road licence fees for motorbikes; higher grants for e-bikes for students and; incentives for employers to install bicycle infrastructure and shower facilities that can
encourage employees to commute by bike.

Their proposals also include recommendations for building, industry, waste, water, agriculture, energy and finance.

They called for the democratisation of energy supply and the support of community energy initiatives so that the public can invest in communal energy schemes like solar panels on large roofs, industrial estates, schools and government buildings.

Regarding the building initiatives, they insisted that focus shouldn’t be limited to new buildings – the retrofitting of already existing structures should also be considered as a viable option.

Similarly, they called for the protection of mature trees in addition to the already established initiative of planting more greenery.

Read the full report here.

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Ana is a university graduate who loves a heated debate, she’s very passionate about humanitarian issues and justice. In her free time you’ll probably catch her binge watching way too many TV shows or thinking about her next meal.

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