State of the Environment Report for Malta 1998

Abstract

All activities of Man have an impact on the local and global environment. It has become increasingly important to gauge these impacts, both because these impacts are becoming more and more significant and also because Man’s expectations have increased more than ever before in the last ten years. Moreover, the aspect of sustainability, that is whether what we are doing today to satisfy our needs will have an impact on future generations, has become an overriding concern. It is therefore important that all decisions are taken with an informed mind. For this to be possible, there must be accurate and accessible information about the state of our environment. Indeed, in signing the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in December 1998, Malta has pledged amongst other things to keep the public informed about the state of the environment. This is precisely the scope of this report, which intends to be one of a series of regular snap-shots of the state of the local environment. Such reports will facilitate a co-ordinated response to be made and eventually will enable trends to be discerned. While the report shows that there is considerable work still to be done in the environmental field, it is nevertheless a milestone towards achieving sustainable development. [preface]