Without 1.5° limit, world risks failing climate mitigation, adaptation efforts: Maltese minister

Dr. Miriam Dalli

If the world fails to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius, all other efforts in global climate action will also be futile, according to Dr. Miriam Dalli, Malta’s Minister for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise. Although climate mitigation coupled with adaptation are extremely important in global climate action, the world needs to make sure to limit the global warming rise to 1.5° target, she told the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

Crucial 1.5° target

“And I am saying this because if we go beyond that – and I would say that is the absolute limit – then we are risking the mitigation part, the adaptation part and the loss and damage part linked to it. Because I believe that all of them are very much interlinked,” she said on the sidelines of COP28, UN Climate Conference successfully concluded last Wednesday at Expo City Dubai.

Dalli was referring to climate change mitigation, which means reducing the flow of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Adapting to climate change means taking action to adjust to its present and future impacts. Loss and damage refers to costs already being incurred from climate-fuelled weather extremes or impacts, like rising sea levels.

The minister’s words gain relevance as the world’s first global stocktake at COP28, an assessment of progress since the 2015 Paris Agreement, decided to ratchet up climate action before the end of the decade – with the overarching aim to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach.

The stocktake has recognised the science that indicates global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut 43 percent by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, to limit global warming to 1.5°C. But it has also noted that Parties are off track when it comes to meeting their Paris Agreement goals.

Malta’s priorities

The Maltese minister said adaptation is a top priority in her country’s national climate agenda. Malta believes that ambitious mitigation measures are the best form of adaptation. Malta is proud to be part of the most ambitious legislative framework in the world, the EU's "Fit for 55" package, which aims to achieve climate neutrality across the EU by 2050, she noted.

While being a small island state, Malta's contribution to global emissions is negligible; the country is still suffering the consequences of climate change, Dalli pointed out.

Therefore, she said, Malta consistently supports capacity building for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), African states, and other vulnerable countries.

“Even though we are small, that is no justification for us to say we need to do less. So, we are ambitious. We want to deliver on the commitments we are taking; but at the same time, we want to make sure that all other states deliver as well. And all the other states understand the realities as well and the challenges that small islands have to face.”

UAE innovations give solutions to Malta

Finding solution to climate change are not easy, the minister pointed out. “But when we come together, I think we can find common solutions and we get to know about innovative solutions.”

Dalli said she felt interested in the innovative solutions being exhibited by the UAE.

“I think those are the solutions that can actually help us deliver and that can really put us on the right track.”

Malta and the UAE have great potential to collaborate on a range of mitigation issues, particularly in innovation for renewable energy and energy efficiency, adaptation, and building resilience, the minister noted.

Water management is a key priority for both our nations as a measure to adapt to climate change. Malta and the UAE, along with Mozambique and Switzerland, have established the Statement of Joint Pledges to prioritise Climate, Peace, and Security during their tenure as elected members of the UN Security Council, she explained.

“We believe that decarbonisation presents an opportunity for innovation and green enterprise, and there are endless possibilities for cooperation between our two countries.”

COP28 Presidency brings everyone onboard

The minister said COP28 Presidency was determined to make ambitious results from the beginning. “We have seen this also from the first days of the COP when we were speaking about the loss and damage fund, for example.”

The success of a COP depending on bringing everyone onboard and the COP28 Presidency was determined about it, she stressed.