Last Updated on Saturday, 24 February, 2024 at 12:21 pm by Andre Camilleri
“Turning the Tide: How to Drive Climate Resilience in Coastal and Maritime Infrastructure” was the theme of an event hosted by MEP Josianne Cutajar, as Vice Chair for SMEs and Digitalisation in the SEArica Intergroup, in the European Parliament.
MEP Cutajar has increasingly advocated for bolstering our climate resilience efforts to ensure the vulnerable communities, especially in islands and coastal areas, are prepared to adapt to the challenges brought upon by the climate crisis, emphasising that this is an urgent policymaking and educational priority.
Dr Josianne Cutajar further highlighted that “our coastal and maritime regions are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. This past summer, Malta and Gozo experienced one of the most severe heatwaves in its history, highlighting the acute vulnerability of island states, and the necessity for fostering infrastructural resilience which is robust enough to withstand an era of climatic extremes.”
This high-level discussion, supported by the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions, brought together key sectoral and regional policymakers, industry experts, and other stakeholders to reflect on the work being done in this regard by the EU itself, as well as in its coastal regions and islands. Furthermore, the next steps to developing and to implementing comprehensive climate adaptation and mitigation policies, with an emphasis on maritime infrastructure, were discussed. Kathiana Bonello Ghio, Deputy Permanent Representative of Malta to the European Union, was also invited to share the Maltese Government’s work in this sector, which includes the establishment of the Climate Action Authority.
MEP Josianne Cutajar concluded by highlighting the importance of a sustainable transition, that is SME driven, data savvy, and leaves no one behind, pointing out the critical role that the EU has to play in ensuring that the most vulnerable and disadvantaged regions are given the most support, but also the most flexibility to ensure they transition successfully; a point which Dr Cutajar emphasised continously during this mandate especially in the Islands Report which she negotiated.
