Malta’s National Strategy for the Environment

Air pollution continues to be a persistent and invisible problem in Malta, despite the known impacts on human health and concern by the general public. Cleaner air is known to reduce cardio-respiratory ailments, support the ecosystem function and make our neighbourhoods more liveable. As a result, the NSE proposes that air pollution levels meet the quality target levels set for the protection of vegetation and human health. The Strategy focuses on mobility and the need for a modal shift towards cleaner alternatives to private car use to achieve these targets.

Malta’s population stood at an estimated 516,100 in 2020, the vast majority of whom reside in Malta’s urban areas, with 402,427 licensed motor vehicles being registered by the end of the same year. More than 91% of citizens are either highly or very highly concerned about the issues being faced at the urban level, including traffic congestion and the lack of  green open spaces.

This puts further emphasis on the need to improve Maltese neighbourhoods’ quality of environment both for human health and wellbeing. The NSE aims to achieve this through the reduction of noise, air, and light pollution in villages and towns whilst also improving the status of waste management in these neighbourhoods. Furthermore, ecosystem services provided by urban greening will be ensured whilst safeguarding existing green spaces and opening new ones.

Specific enabling conditions are required for any transition to take place. Although historically, Malta has adopted legislation to protect resources such as trees, wildlife and soil; legislation is only the first step. A host of different enabling tools that support the environmental legislation are required to enable various sectors of society to contribute to the green transition. These range from fiscal to policy measures, research, and education, amongst others.

The NSE aims to enable a behavioural change in society’s cultural mindsets through effective communication, public awareness, and education whilst supporting and promoting joined-up governance. Green upskilling, multi-skilling, reskilling, and the opportunity of enhancing transferable skills in the workforce need to be pursued. 

More than 61% of citizens are highly concerned about the state of freshwater in the Maltese Islands, especially when it comes to freshwater pollution. Malta’s limited freshwater resources are made up of groundwater and surface freshwater bodies, along with some wetlands and intermittent watercourses. Freshwater resources are of vital importance since they are used for drinking, municipal supply, irrigation and certain industrial processes, along with their role in sustaining habitats of high conservation importance. Malta has the lowest natural freshwater availability per capita in the EU, due to its semi-arid climate and high population density, making the protection of the limited water we have imperative.

The NSE aims to achieve good chemical, ecological and quantitative statuses for groundwater and inland surface water bodies in the Maltese Islands. Whilst this is of course important, various initiatives are needed to achieve these goals, ranging from infrastructure to monitoring and enforcement.

Malta’s size, and population density mean that land resources and land use are a major challenge for a small island state. In fact, more than 76% of the Maltese people are highly concerned when it comes to rural or natural land’s development and construction.

This is probably attributable to the demand for land uptake for economic and residential activity over the past years, which has negatively influenced well-being in many ways. The NSE states that land resources will be safeguarded through ensuring ecosystem health and sustainable and integrated water resource management, along with efficient and effective agricultural and landscape management. That said, enabling sustainable quarrying and construction whilst ensuring proper permitting and safeguarding of the environment are known to be long-standing local issues.

As an island state comprising a marine area that is significantly larger than the land area, the marine environment is of great national importance. Along with its environmental importance, the marine environment area’s ecosystem services are a significant contributor to Malta’s economy, supporting sectors such as fisheries, tourism, shipping, water production and energy generation. In addition, maritime culture is fundamental to the Maltese identity.

The NSE aims to maintain coastal and marine waters in a good environmental and ecological status, with marine ecosystems being fully functional in terms of healthy food webs which ensure marine biodiversity’s long-term abundance.

93% of Maltese citizens agree that it is important to protect biodiversity. This is a promising figure, which shows that we are aware that nature is the foundation of our well-being and health, and that it contributes greatly to people’s mental resilience and physical health. It is increasingly being acknowledged that the human species’ survival is intrinsically bound to ecosystems’ health. To this end, the NSE proposes that key habitats and species’ conservation status will improve whilst the ecosystem coverage will be maintained and its condition improved.