Political parties clash on climate

The PN tabled a motion in Parliament last Thursday that seeks to declare climate change a national emergency. But Labour disagreed on the particulars. Both claim the high moral ground. Jessica Arena dissects the issue. The motion, put forward by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, proposed the setting up of a parliamentary committee that would enforce legally-binding targets to reduce emissions by specific deadlines, 2030 and 2050, in line with what is expected from other EU member states. According to a European Commission report on the Paris Climate Agreement published last year, Malta was the only EU country that still falls short of its reduction targets and resorted to buying emission credits from other member states. The commission encouraged Malta to implement measures that would cut transport emissions by 2025. What is a climate emergency? Since 2016, some cities, towns and villages abroad have made a climate emergency declaration or set climate action plans. This has usually meant setting local goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a chosen target date, with the overall goal being to mitigate the risks and impact of climate change. On May 1, the British Parliament...