Malta’s Green Party ADPD warned on Saturday that strategies need to urgently mitigate the impact of climate change on health, agriculture and other sectors.
This is because, according to ADPD Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo, the political discourse on climate change has only so far concentrated on reducing carbon emissions.
Cacopardo said that the climate was already changing and it would take time for adaptation measures to have an impact, provided that they are in fact implemented.
Underlining the warming of the Mediterranean region at a rate 20% faster than the global average, Cacopardo said that a number of sectors will be gradually impacted by the ‘tropicalisation’ of our climate.
He said that rainwater harvesting needs to be properly addressed to enable people to harvest more rainwater instead of dumping it into the sea to the public sewer. He called on the Water Services Corporation and the Planing Authority to ensure that water cisterns are provided in all new developments in line with development permits.
Agriculture is the largest user of water all over the Mediterranean, said Cacopardo. ‘As an island it is crucial to a dress coastal protection, even in view of the fact that most of our tourism infrastructure lies along the coast’ he said.
He said that warmer temperatures could also result in heightened exposure to disease which could put additional stains on health services. This needs to be planned for, said Cacopardo, highlighting how the elderly and vulnerable persons would be among the hardest hit.
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