The assembly reunited considered not only a fundamental right of citizens to live in a healthy environment, but a duty of society as a whole to pass on a healthy and viable environment to future generations, the DOI press release underscores.

Moreover, Mr Herrera underlined the position taken by the General Assembly of the Council of Europe on 30 September 2009 at the 32nd sitting when debating the report of the committee on the environment, agriculture and local and regional affairs.

In addition, he noted that the whole world is prioritising more environmental justice with 149 out of 193 states have already included the right to a healthy and sustainable environment in their national constitutions. Malta took the same initiative last year when the parliament unanimously included such principles in its constitution, as the press release says. 

During his address, Mr Herrera said that adoption of the right of access to justice in environmental matters on the 25 June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus at the 4th Ministerial Conference which is commonly referred to as the Aarhus Convention was an important milestone since one of the three underlying principles of this convention was justice. The treaty declares that citizens must be able to go to court if public authorities do not respect and fulfil the requirements created by EU laws, something which most European states nowadays have or are in the process of having.

“To strengthen environmental justice however, we need to widen the scope of the so-called actio popolaris [popular action] for environmental matters, meaning that citizens should be empowered to challenge executive and administrative decisions on environmental issues before the Courts without having to prove that they have a direct judicial interest in the cause,” concluded Mr Herrera. 

During his visit at the Republic of Cuba, Mr Herrera also held bilateral talks with Ms Elba Rosa Peres Montoya, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, and Ms Anayansi Rodrigez Camejo, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs.

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Mr Herrera, accompanied by the Ambassador of Malta to Greece Joseph Cuschieri, explained that Malta has established a comprehensive legislative framework — the Cultural Heritage Act — in order to preserve the symbolic sites, cultural heritage and identity. Moreover, he noted that Maltese national agency for museums, cultural heritage and conservation practice Heritage Malta works on ensuring continuous conservation, restoration and management of cultural sites, including museums, historical sites and buildings, while effectively monitoring and reporting the impacts of natural effects on the heritage sites.

In addition, the minister stated that the conference offered the opportunity to conceptualise plans and learn more about how to fight the threat of climate change. He also underlined that the world is experiencing more frequent extreme weather phenomena, which is causing damages to different sites.

Thus, with the increasing incidence of climate change already felt through various sporadic extreme climatic events around the world, measures should be taken to adapt to climate change and protect infrastructures, natural and cultural assets, as the DOI press release says.  

Mr Herrera continued explaining that through the effective use of European Union funds, Malta is aiming to ensure the protection of archaeological sites through the construction of walkways and protective tents, the sheltering of ancient temples from direct rainfall, solar radiation and ground humidity so as to prevent potential damages, and reducing the risks of degradation while stabilising the environmental conditions to which they are exposed to.

The minister said also that Malta has recently set up an Underwater Cultural Heritage Unit to preserve marine sites and in order to make underwater areas accessible to the public, while preserving their history and culture.

In conclusion, he added that it is the duty of policymakers to protect such a public good and to design effective policies to address the issue.

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Minister Herrera also confirmed that Malta steps up its efforts and is committed to issuing a strategy that will tackle more single-use plastic items, when speaking before the assembly, bearing the theme, “Innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production”, according to a press statement by the government’s Department of Information (DOI).

Outlining the strategy, the minister said that the ten most single-use plastics that were identified as a significant threat to our marine environment need to be tackled. He also said that in the framework of this strategy, the government would apply a phasing-out approach in eliminating some plastic products while incentivising more environmentally-friendly alternatives.

Malta also signed the Ministerial Declaration of the 2019 United Nations Environment Assembly whereby in principle signatory countries reaffirmed, “that poverty eradication, changing unsustainable and promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production and protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development are the overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sustainable development,” according to the DOI release.

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