WATCH: Malta Needs To Convert 65,000 Cars To Electric In Nine Years To Meet Carbon Neutrality Targets
Malta will need to replace 65,000 combustion engine cars with electric alternatives by 2030 in order for it to remain on course to reach its carbon neutrality goals, Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia has said.
The minister was a guest on Lovin Daily, where he discussed the government’s efforts to combat climate change, among other subjects.
Adding 65,000 electric vehicles in nine years means increasing Malta’s stock of electric vehicles by roughly 7,000 every year. No easy task when considering that of Malta’s stock of just over 400,000 vehicles, only some 8,000 are electric.
Farrugia acknowledged that electric cars were still more expensive than combustion engine vehicles, which is why he said the government was offering a €9,000 grant to people opting to go electric. Work was underway to introduce the proper charging infrastructure that the widespread use of electric cars would require, he said.
In addition to overseeing this shift to electric transport, the government will also be offering free public transport to everyone in Malta by 2030, and is aiming to ban the importation of combustion engine vehicles at some point between 2030 and 2034.
On the need to reduce emissions, Farrugia noted that roughly half of Malta’s emissions came from transport, which meant that the shift to electric was crucial for Malta’s long-term sustainability.
“This is why the government is investing so much money in this modal shift,” Farrugia said, adding that the government was ticking all the boxes when it came to the transport sector.
First time Malta has a plan
Farrugia pushed back against claims that the government was standing idly by in the face of the threat posed by climate change, stressing that it was the first time that Malta had a concrete strategy that was being implemented.
“This is the first time a Maltese government has a plan that is being implemented, and which will help us reach our international targets, which include a 19% reduction in emissions” Farrugia said. “It’s going to be very hard and by no means a walk in the park.”
To reach its targets, he said that Malta had drafted a strategy together with advisory firm Ernst and Young as well as another international organisation that has assisted other governments in formulating similar plans.
Through the implementation of this plan, the government would be on course to achieve its European targets by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
Farrugia also pointed to schemes available in other various sectors, including the construction sector for the modernisation of equipment, as well as for the greening of buildings.
The government had also banned the importation of single-use plastics and would be banning their sale from January next year, Farrugia said.
COP26 will be make or break for the world
The minister said that work was currently underway for Malta to prepare for the United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow this November.
“That’s where all the big players will be – the likes of India, China, the United States and Russia – which will decide on a way forward together with Malta and the other signatories to the Paris agreement.
“Ultimately we need to understand that what the UN climate report published last week says is that COP26 is going to be a make or break moment for the world,” Farrugia said. “It’s a code red situation. We need to collectively reduce emissions to bring the world temperature down by 1.5 degrees celsius.”
Farrugia also took a swing at the Opposition, which recently declared its intention to organise a climate change conference “in order to decide on what position they should take”.
“If they manage to do it in seven months, they’ll be ready for COP27, not COP26,” Farrugia said.
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