The Nationalist Party presented a bill on Monday to include the environment as one of the fundamental rights of the individual in Malta.
Addressing a press conference, PN MPs Darren Carabott, Janice Chetcuti and Stanley Zammit spoke about how this is the ‘strongest legislation in favour of the environment ever proposed in our country.’
‘All individuals in Malta have the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment’ the bill, and by extension the PN, suggests.
The party is thus proposing to introduce public scrutiny of environmental decisions as well as enhancing public participation in such matters.
The PN included legal amendments to the draft law, expanding the definition of the word environment to include air, water, land, ecosystems and all elements forming part of it. Social conditions, cultural attributes and aesthetic coherence will also be included.
The bill means that there will no longer be a need to show personal interest to open a constitutional case on the environment and will thus allow for more robust public scrutiny by NGOs and citizens.
The PN is calling on the government to vote unanimously in favour of the amendment, which requires at least a two-thirds majority to be approved and enacted.
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