Ġ. F. ABELA JUNIOR CO LLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF MALTA … · Ġ. f. abela junior co llege, university...

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Ġ. F. ABELA JUNIOR COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF MALTA THE DEPARTMENT OF SYSTEMS OF KNOWLEDGE SEMINARS

ENVIRONMENT WHEN Wednesday, January 28, 2015 2.15p.m.-3.45p.m.

WHERE Room 247, Junior College

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS PROF. ALAN DEIDUN PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY UNIT, UNIVERSITY OF MALTA MS. CLAIRE CORDINA BORG MEPA MS. GRETA MUSCAT AZZOPARDI MALTA WATER ASSOCIATION FR. MARK CIANTAR OFM MALTESE ARCHDIOCESE COMMISSION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

QUESTIONS What constitutes the Environment? Do the Maltese actually care about the environment? What is the role of the Environment Protection within MEPA?

This seminar is

organised in

collaboration with

JC Chaplaincy

and EuroCentre,

Junior College.

INTRODUCTION

Keynote speakers, colleagues and students, as Subject Coordinator of Systems of

Knowledge, I welcome you to this seminar about the Environment. The organisation of

the seminar was worked out in collaboration with JC chaplaincy, particularly Fr. Marco

Portelli, and from the Euro Centre Ms. Boryana Chaneva and Ms. Kerry Chetcuti. Here I

would like to add a note of thanks to the following for their support: from the

Administration side Mr. Paul Xuereb, Principal and Dr. Philip Caruana Vice-Principal,

Secretaries of the Principal. Mr. Daniel Cioffi for helping us set up the audio visual.

This year, Junior College is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. Taking in consideration

the Syllabus of Systems of Knowledge, we know that this subject since its inception in

1987, was formulated to allow one to experiment with ideas that move beyond the

particular areas of other subjects. One fourth this syllabus is dedicated to Sustainable

Development and the Environment. Students can select the Environment as one of the

fields to work out their Systems of Knowledge Project.

Today, one way to look at the environment is to see it as an ‘aggregate of surrounding

things like air, water, minerals, organisms, and other external factors which affect the life

of an organism’. We have also heard that development stresses the relation between

organisms and the environment, in a manner that the definition of sustainable

development which resulted from the Brundtland report sounds like a cliché. The

Brundtland report points to us that development to be sustainable have to maintain, ‘the

needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their

own needs.’ But as in Systems of Knowledge we can approach the strained relation

between organisms and the environment from a political, aesthetic, scientific and

technological perspective.

The three keynote speakers present here: Ms. Claire Cordina Borg from Malta

Environment and Planning Authority,, Ms. Greta Muscat Azzopardi from Malta Water

Association and Fr. Mark Ciantar from the Maltese Archdiocese Commission for the

Environment. As their bionotes prove, their experience in these various institutions and

organisations, will allow them to elucidate a number of points about our current state of

local environmental issues and how we can possibly extend our care so that Maltese

future generations will not be crippled to meet their own needs.

`The Environment

Claire Cordina Borg

National Affairs Team

claire.cordinaborg@mepa.org.mt

OBJECTIVE • What is the Environment?

• Who manages the Environment?

• What is the role of the EPD?

What is ‘The Environment?’

"environment" means the whole of the elements

and conditions, natural or man made, existing

on earth, whether together or in isolation, and

in particular:

(a) the air, water and land;

(b) all the layers of the atmosphere;

(c) all organic and inorganic matter and all living

organisms;

(d) all ecosystems; and

(e) the landscape;”

Chapter 504 Environment and Development Planning Act

`Receptors

Air Quality & Climate

Nature and Biodiversity Soil

Water Quality

The wider picture

BALANCE

Industry & Technology

Chemicals & Environmental Accidents

WasteLanduse

Affecters

Balancing Interactions

European Environment Agency

Sustainable Development

“Sustainable development …

is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Brundtland Report 1987

But … How do we achieve it?

Who needs to pitch in?

Who should lead?

Who should follow?

Managing the Environment

Who manages the Environment?

OPM & MINISTRIES Government

RESOURCES

STANDARDSTRANSPORT

CUSTOMS

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH &

SAFETY

HEALTH

AGRICULTURE

FISHERIES

CIVIL PROTECTION

RADIATION PROTECTION

STATISTICS OFFICE

CULTURE

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING Internal

MALTA ENTERPRISE

WASTESERV

OPERATORS

GENERAL PUBLICPublic

National Entities

Private

• Advises on environmental policies

What is the role of EPD?

• Draws up plans & policies

• Assesses the environmental impact

of development

• Authorizes operations to minimize

environmental damage

• Monitors the ambient environment

Advises on Environmental policy - National level -

• negotiation of proposed

legislation

• transposition of adopted

legislation

• implementation monitoring &

reporting & tapping funds

Advises on Environmental policy - EU and Multilateral level -

Approx. 400

instruments

Approx. 40

of development

Draws up plans and policies

www.mepa.org.mt

of development

Steps in the Environmental Assessment

of Projects

PRELIMINARY ENVIRONMENTAL VETTING

DETERMINATION OF PRINCIPLE

Policy filter

General Environmental Compatibility

TECHNICAL SCREENING

FORMAL ASSESSMENTS

DELIVERY OF EPD INPUT

POST -DECISION FOLLOW -UP

of development

2009 2010 2011 2012

Renewals issued

Variations issued

New permits issued

Applications received

EXEMPTED

PERMITSPotential

Environment

Impact

~5,000 installations

~500 installations

Authorizations to minimize

environmental damage - permits

of development

Monitors the ambient environment

Conclusion

The Environment is like a chain

Complex

Multidisciplinary,

multidimensional …

… Managing it effectively

requires care, respect and input

from all

Thank You

Claire Cordina Borg

National Affairs Team

claire.cordinaborg@mepa.org.mt

W AT E R , W AT E R E V E R Y W H E R E

W AT E R

W AT E R P R O B L E M

D O W E H AV E O N E ?

R A I N

DW AT E R TA B L E

W AT E R TA B L E

S O U R C E : M A R C O C R E M O N A

O N E T H I R D O F T H E W O R L D ’ S S H I P P I N G T R A F F I C PA S S E S B Y T H E M A LT E S E I S L A N D S A N D S I C I LY

O I L S P I L L / I S S U E S W I T H F U E L S U P P L I E S

N O R E V E R S E O S M O S I S P L A N T S N O P O L I S H I N G P L A N T S

N O T R E AT M E N T P L A N T S N O P O W E R S TAT I O N

= N O D R I N K I N G WAT E R

S O L U T I O N S ?

R E N E W A B L E E N E R G Y

U S E O F T S E

R E C Y C L E

S O U R C E : M A R C O C R E M O N A

God put men and women on earth “to till it and

keep it” (cfr Gen 2, 15)

General Audience of Pope Francis, 5th June 2013

By Fr. Mark Ciantar OFM

• The verb “cultivate” reminds us of the care a farmer takes to ensure that his land will

be productive and that his produce will be shared: what great attention, enthusiasm

and dedication!

• Cultivating and caring for creation is an instruction of God which he gave not only at

the beginning of history, but has also given to each one of us; it is part of his plan; it

means making the world increase with responsibility, transforming it so that it may

be a garden, an inhabitable place for us all.

• This task entrusted to us by God the Creator requires us to grasp the pace and the

logic of creation. Instead we are often guided by the pride of dominating, possessing,

manipulating and exploiting; we do not “preserve” the earth, we do not respect it, we

do not consider it as a freely-given gift to look after.

• We are losing our attitude of wonder, of contemplation, of listening to creation and

thus we no longer manage to interpret in it “the rhythm of the love-story between

God and man”. This happens because we thinks and live horizontally, we have

drifted away from God, we no longer read his signs.

• The popes have spoken of a human ecology, closely connected with environmental

ecology.

• We are living in a time of crisis; we see it in the environment, but above all we see it

in men and women. The human person is in danger and the peril is grave, because

the cause of the problem is not superficial but deeply rooted. It is not merely a

question of economics but of ethics and anthropology.

• Thesystem continues unchanged since what dominates are the dynamics of an

economy and a finance that are lacking in ethics. It is no longer man who

commands, but money.

• God our Father gave us the task of protecting the earth — not for money, but for

ourselves: for men and women. We have this task! Nevertheless men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: it is the “culture of waste”.

• If there are children in so many parts of the world who have nothing to eat, that is

not news, it seems normal. On the contrary, when the stock market drops 10 points in some cities, it constitutes a tragedy.

• This “culture of waste” tends to become a common mentality that infects everyone. Human life, the person, are no longer seen as a primary value to be respected and

safeguarded, especially if they are poor or disabled, if they are not yet useful — like the unborn child — or are no longer of any use — like the elderly person.

• This culture of waste has also made us insensitive to wasting and throwing out

excess foodstuffs, which is especially condemnable when, in every part of the world, unfortunately, many people and families suffer hunger and malnutrition.

• There was a time when our grandparents were very careful not to throw away any

left over food. Consumerism has induced us to be accustomed to excess and to the daily waste of food, whose value, which goes far beyond mere financial parameters,

we are no longer able to judge correctly. • Let us remember well, however, that whenever food is thrown out it is as if it were

stolen from the table of the poor, from the hungry!

Ġ. F. ABELA JUNIOR CO LLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF MALTA … · Ġ. f. abela junior co llege, university...

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