Carmel Cacopardo
The current heat wave is a clear indication that the earth is heating up at an ever-increasing rate. The 1.5-degree Celsius limit above pre-industrial global mean temperature level agreed to at the 2015 Paris Climate Summit, has been breached during the year 2024. This is not good news as it means that climate change impacts will be further accelerated.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), every year, 175,000 deaths in Europe are heat related. The problem is getting worse, as evidenced by the health warnings issued in the past days. As emphasised by Politico earlier this month “lethal heat is Europe’s new climate reality”.
WHO recommends the development of heat health action plans as a preventive measure which can help countries address the impact of this new reality, as a result protecting the vulnerable.
I read, with satisfaction, that the Health and Active Aging Ministry in Malta has developed a comprehensive Heat Health Preparedness Response Plan. This plan is based on early warning measures and awareness-raising initiatives. This is quite helpful in reducing heat related deaths through having vulnerable people (and their carers) more aware of the ever-increasing risks which they face. Consequently, they can take the necessary precautions.
A bilingual SMS was circulated by the health authorities earlier this week advising vulnerable persons. It was along these lines: “This is an excessive heat warning. Avoid direct sunshine. Stay in cool surroundings. Drink plenty of water often.”
It was likewise positive to hear of the initiative taken by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA), during this week. The initiative advised construction site employers of their responsibilities in ensuring that their employees are adequately protected “from heat stress and harmful ultraviolet radiation while working in direct sunlight.”
It would be quite helpful if this same positivity embeds itself in other Ministerial policy areas. It could achieve quite a lot if it can be ensured that current and future policy initiatives contribute to addressing climate change and its impacts in so practical and direct a manner.
The current craze on sea transport at the Transport Ministry is definitely a step in the right direction. Possibly some more thought and planning could go into the whole exercise. Such far-reaching initiatives, which we Greens have been advocating for ages, cannot be implemented over-night. Such initiatives need to be well thought out and studied in detail. While the aim is definitely positive it needs to be ensured that negative impacts, in particular those on residents and residential areas, are adequately addressed and ironed out at the drawing board stage.
Haste and corner-cutting do not solve problems. Generally, they end up creating new problems. Consulting residents continuously is an investment worth making. It always reaps huge dividends.
Shortly we will move on to the next phase of the almost regular annual climate change impacts which we must address. In the coming weeks we await flooding to take over the news. Our TV and computer screens will once more document the accumulating storm damage and the water resources laid to waste. A lesson which we face year in year out. The yearly improvements are too few as we tend to ignore the lessons.
A point which repeatedly comes to mind is the reduced attention to the provision of rainwater harvesting measures. Our ancestors had the foresight to plan ahead as can be seen in most of our old houses. At least in those houses which are still in existence.
The large quantities of rainwater ending up in our streets, during storms, in the coming weeks, will once more indicate the extent to which we still waste the resources which nature provides us free of charge.
The International Court of Justice at The Hague this week delivered a stark warning. States have a legal obligation to tackle climate change. Failure to do so will open the floodgates of actions for reparations. It is time to get serious, not just about heatwaves.
first published in The Malta Independent on Sunday: 27 July 2025
Carmel Cacopardo is ADPD-The Green Party’s Deputy Chairperson
