Country overview and assessment
14.Malta
This country fiche provides a comprehensive overview and assessment of climate change adaptation in Malta. After detailing the vulnerability of the Maltese coastal zones, the responsibility and financing for coastal protection is explained. Next, the fiche presents the relevant research activities, the coastal defence, risk reduction and adaptation plans available in Malta as well as the current and future protection and adaptation expenditure. The persons contacted and sources of information used are listed at the end.
14.1.Vulnerability of Malta’s coastal zones to climate change
The MalteseIslands have a total area of 316 km² and are located in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, approximately 100km south of Sicily. The archipelago consists of three main islands: Malta, with an area of about 245km² and 350000 inhabitants, Gozo, with an area of 67km² and a population of about 30000 and Comino, which is inhabited by a very small farming community. The entire coastline measures 173 km.Figure 141 presents the MalteseIslands and the main physical and socio-economic indicators of the coastal zones.
Figure 141: The MalteseIslandswith the main physical and socio-economic indicators of their coastal zones
Source: Policy Research based on EEA, 2006, The changing faces of Europe’s coastal areas (for Sea Level Rise and 10 km coastal zone below 5 metres elevation); European Commission (Eurosion study), 2004, Living with coastal erosion in Europe: Sediment and space for sustainability (for coastline length and coastline subject to erosion); Eurostat 2004 (for GDP and population in 50 km zone)
As a small island, Malta is especially vulnerable to climate change. Moreover, limited financial resources and a high population density[1] restrictMalta’s adaptive capacity. The following paragraphs describe in more detail the vulnerability of Malta’s coastal zones to the risk of flooding and erosion, freshwater shortage and potential loss of eco-systems.
a/Flooding and erosion
Malta’s coastal areas are characterised by cliffs, clay slopes and rocks. As a result, almost 60% of the coastline is inaccessible due to its physical features. The remaining coastlineis very heavily utilised for residential and economic purposes. Sandy beaches are not as commonly found as suggested by tourist publicity, since they constitute only 2.5% of the total coastline. However, most of these beaches are exposed to significant erosion. Although erosion is in first instance a natural phenomenon, the main factor that accelerates erosion in Malta is human intervention through development. The construction of coastal roads next to the sandy beaches and other coastal constructions alter the natural sediment supply process. To date there are no published studies addressing in more detail the rates and risks of coastal erosion around the MalteseIslands.
In the past, Maltahas also experienced problems related to floods, but mainly due to flash storms[2]. Thisphenomenon seemsto be getting worse, particularly in heavily populated areas where the high degree of urbanisation hampers the natural run-off or absorption of water. In September 2003, heavy storms and flash floods caused severe disruption of Malta’s economic activities and damaged infrastructures as well as the natural environment throughout the MalteseIslands[3]. The EC classified the event as a ‘major disaster’ and awarded a grant of almost €1million from the European Solidarity Fund.
b/Freshwater shortage
Natural water resources are scarce in the Maltese islands. Malta has no rivers, the average rainfall is very low, especially in summer, and Maltahas neither any surface waters nor extensive underground water resources to rely upon.Freshwater shortage is thus considered to be an important issue.
At present, freshwater supplied by unconfined aquifers[4]only meets around half of the yearly water demand. Hence, desalinated and brackish water needs to supplement this shortfall. Besides the local population, water use is heavily taxed by sectors such as tourism, industry and agriculture.Malta is among the top-ranking countries in terms of global water scarcity.
c/Loss of coastal eco-systems
In Malta, many rare and native species[5] are threatened and continue to decline. The main threats to Malta’s biodiversity arethe development in rural and marine areas, the introduction of alien species that may compete with native biodiversity and the exploitation of wildlife.
A legal framework has been put in place to ensure the protection of ecologically important sites in the MalteseIslands. Since 2002, Malta has declared 38 Special Areas of Conservation and approximately 12.5% of Malta’s land area has been proposed as candidate Natura 2000 sites. In addition, the environmental impact of new developments needs to be assessed before a construction permit is granted. The potential ecological impact of climate change for the MalteseIslands has not been investigated yet, so cannot be reported upon.
14.2.Responsibility and financing for coastal protection and climate adaptation
In Malta, policy and regulatory affairs in relation to coastal protection are dealt with at the national level. Coastal maintenance and protection measures on the other hand are undertaken and financed by the entity pursuing such development.
The Ministry most concerned with coastal protection and climate adaptation is the Ministry ofResources and Rural Affairs (MRRA). Regulatory support is provided by two entities. The Malta Environment and Planning Authority(MEPA) covers the field of environmental protection and land use, including development on the coast, and the Malta Resources Authority, covers all issues related to water, energy and mineral resources in the MalteseIslands.
Any entity, whether from the private sector, the general public or the government (e.g. Fisheries Conservation Division, Malta Maritime Authority or Malta Tourism Authority), wishing to undertake a development project has to apply with MEPA for a development permit as per obligation under the amended Development Planning Act of 1992.
The regulation of water resource management falls under the responsibility of the Water Resources Authority. The construction of water facilities as well as the water supply is taken care of by the Water Services Corporation.
14.3.Research into Malta’s vulnerability to climate change and climate change scenarios
Research related to climate change is very limited in Malta. At present, the University of Malta is mostly involved and aims to support the Malta Environment and Planning Authority with the provision of climate-related data.
Currently the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and the University of Malta are working on the compilation of the Second National Communication to the UNFCCC. This second communication will focus on vulnerability and adaptation in the MalteseIslands. Hence, climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation will be assessed for various sectors.
In addition, the Physics Department of the University of Malta is embarking on regional climate modelling, which shall be established as one of the department’s research areas. These initiatives will provide scientific data and projections to support Maltain tackling the challenges of climate change.
In February 2001 the installation of a sea level gauge in the Portomaso marina at the Malta Hilton in St. Julians was completed[6]. It constitutes the first real-time monitoring station for oceanographic data in Malta. The instrument, donated by the International Commission for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean Sea (CIESM)[7], collects data on seawater temperature, atmospheric pressure and waves in the marina.
14.4.Coastal defence, risk reduction and adaptation plans in relation to climate change
To date, adaptation to climate change has received little attention in Malta as systematic research on the topic is lacking. Nonetheless, within the context of climate change, risk prevention especially in relation to extreme weather events is becoming increasingly important and concrete steps are undertaken to protect the Maltese islands against flash floods. WithEuropean Unionsupport, Malta recently engaged in a National Storm Water Project focusing both on relief from flash floods and water conservation. Measures being undertaken to ensure sufficient freshwater resources are not specifically focused on climate change at this stage.
In addition, MEPA is currently pursuing EU funding to research Malta’s vulnerability to climate change as well as its adaptive capacity. Results would be translated in a national climate change strategy addressing both mitigation and adaptation. Furthermore, the Maltese structure plan which details land use planning is currently under revision and adaptation to climate change will be considered.
Coastal defence works to protect the coastal zones against flooding, extreme weather events or potential SLR, are not undertaken in Malta. Defence measures present are predominantly harbour structures (e.g. breakwaters) that provide safety for navigation. In relation to the problem of erosion, one beach nourishment project was undertaken in 2004. The replenishment was undertaken by the Malta Tourism Authority to reverse the loss of part of the beach at St.GeorgeBay.
a/National Storm Water Project
In response to the flooding episodes of the past years, the government of Malta engaged with the support of the Cohesion Funds2000-2006 in the formulation of a National Storm Water Master Plan and eventually in the development of a National Storm Water Project under the Structural and Cohesion Funds 2007-2013. The overall objective is to ‘manage water away from where it is a hazard to where they are short of it’. The project fulfils the requirement of Malta’s Operational Programme1 to ‘develop infrastructure to minimise the deleterious effects of storm water and reduce the incidence of flash flooding as well as develop storm water catchment and re-use facilities’[8]. Main partners involved in the development and the implementation are the Ministry of Resources and Rural Affaires (MRRA), the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA), the Malta Resources Authority and the Water Services Corporation.
The first major step towards the development of the project is the formulation of a Storm Water Master Plan[9]. The plan was initiated in 2006 and is targeted to become publicly available at the end of 2008. It willoutline the necessary actions to:
Manage the various impacts associated with storm water including flooding, road infrastructure deterioration and traffic management, civil protection and valley management in general and also with reference to particular flood-prone areas and localities;
Utilise storm water to augment the water resources of the MalteseIslands through the harvesting, storage, re-use, recycle and distribution of storm water and the proper disposal of excess.
At present, the Marine and Storm Water Unit of MRRA launched a tender to carry out a detailed cost-benefit analysis as well as an environmental impact assessment. The award is targeted for February 2009 and the contract will run for 14 months. The actual site works[10] of the Storm Water Project are aimed to start around November 2010 for a period ofthree years. To date, the Marine and Storm Water Unit performed already a number of smaller projects on flood relief with the support of local government funding.
b/Other initiatives to counteract the problem of freshwater shortage
The Water Resources Authority has a regulatory role in the management of water resources. Climate change is taken into account when defining water policies, but is not the leading driver. The authority has recently published a policy document including recommendations to optimise the management of water resources and climate change as potential influencing factor.
During the last 2 years, the Maltese government, through the Water Services Corporation andwith support of the EU Structural and Cohesion Fundsinvested in water demand management actions as the reduction of leakages[11] and the upgrading of water distribution networks. These actions, together with water savings by consumers have played an important role in the decrease of total water consumption.
As to water supply, three desalination plants for converting seawater into drinking water, located in Pembroke, Cirkewwa and Lapsiwere installedaround 1990 to increasefreshwater availability. Today, these plants produce around 55% of the total drinking water supply. The remaining water is groundwater, produced from boreholes and springs. One issue that remains is the current capacity of storage reservoirs. The reservoirs do not have sufficient capacity to act as a backup storage in case of major breakdowns in production facilities, let alone to cater for the observed increase in demand at peak consumption times. Increasing the capacity of storage facilities is an option that is being taken into consideration.
Incentives will be developed to encourage the greater utilisation of non-conventional sources of water, namely treated sewage effluent and surface water run-off for uses that do not involve human consumption. Feasibility studies will be undertaken to investigate the possibility of distributing treated sewage effluent from the three sewage treatment plants under development to rural areas for secondary use. This action forms also part of Malta’s effort to mitigate climate change impacts as desalination plants place a heavy burden on the demand for energy.
All water construction works are executed by the Water Services Corporation in Malta. Climate change scenarios have not been taken into account in any of the construction projects.
14.5.Past, present and future adaptation expenditure
For Malta, the adaptation expenditure has been split between the protection against flooding and erosion on the one hand and the actions to counteract freshwater shortage on the other hand. The majority of measures undertaken are co-financed up to 85% by the EU Structural and Cohesion Funds 2007-2013.
a/Flooding and erosion
In Malta, the expenditure to protect against flooding is related to flash flood prevention. The main action undertaken in this respect is the development of the National Storm Water Project. In the period 2006-2008, a preparatory Storm Water Management Plan was financedfor about €0.38million[12].This plan will be followed by a detailed cost-benefit analysis as well as an environmental impact assessment in 2009-2010, for a total value of €2.1million. After the finalisation of these analyses, the infrastructural works of the Storm Water Management Project are expected to start at the end of 2010. For these works, targeted for completion by the end of 2013, a budget of more than €71 million has been set aside, of which about €56million is secured through EU funding.
Since 2000, some smaller flood relief projects were completed for a total value of €3.33million. As to erosion, one beach nourishment project was carried out in 2004 with the support of the Malta Tourism Authority for an amount of €1.2 million.
In 2008, the expenditure amounted to € 0.5 million. Over the 1998-2015 period, the expenditure to protect the coasts of Malta against flooding and erosion will have totalled €91million.
More detailed information can be found in Table 141.
Table 141: Expenditure to protect against flooding and erosion (in € million)
*Proxy provided by Ministry of resources and Rural Affairs, Marine and Storm Water Unit; the expenditures for 1998, 1999 and 2009 are based by Policy Research
**Equal budget distribution made by Policy Research over the planning period November 2010-October 2013; as all measures are co-financed under the Structural and Cohesion Funds 2000-2006 and 2007-2013, no actions have been defined for 2014-2015 yet
b/Freshwater shortage
For what concerns freshwater shortage in Malta, the National Storm Water Management Project is also the main measure taken to adapt to extreme weather events. The total budget for this project has been detailed in Table 141 on flooding and erosion.
Other measures undertaken in Malta are less climate-related and are mainly taken to optimise existing water supply facilities. Table 142 provides an overview.
Table 142: Expenditure to freshwater supply and policy (in € million)
*Information could not be provided by the Water Services Corporation
14.6.Persons contacted and sources of information used
14.6.1.Persons contacted
Name / OrganisationBorg, Michelle / Malta Environment and Planning Authority
Farrugia, Chris / Malta Maritime Authority
Grixti, Marie-Louise / Malta Tourism Authority
Magro, Jimmy / Local Councils’ Association
Mangion, John / Malta Resources Authority
Micallef, Paul / Water Services Corporation
Mifsud Borg, Carmel / Ministry of Resources and Rural Affaires, Marine and Storm Water Unit
Muscat, Marc / Water Services Corporation
14.6.2.Sources of information used
BBC World Service, 2007, Briny future for vulnerable Malta, In: BBC 5 April 2007
Briguglio L., 2000, Implications of accelerated sea-level rise (ASLR) for Malta, proceedings of SURVAS expert workshop on European vulnerability and adaptation to impacts of accelerated Sea-Level Rise (ASLR),Hamburg, Germany, 19 -21 June 2000
European Regional Development Fund, 2007, Operational Programme 1, Cohesion Policy 2007-2013, Investing in competitiveness for a better quality of life
GHK, 2006, Strategic evaluation on environment and risk prevention under Structural and Cohesion Funds for the period 2007-2013
Malta Environment and Planning Authority, 2006, State of the environment report 2005
MaltaMedia news, 2007, Malta to face severe water shortage
Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs, 2004, The first communication of Malta to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment, 2008, Preliminary presentation on project redefinition storm water management project
Norbert H., 2006, Presentation Jaspers on the preliminary assessment of the viability of options for stormwater protection and re-use for the Birkirkara – Msida stormwater project
Sammut C.V., 2008, Malta’s national communications to the UNFCCC and associated research
Walker-Leigh V., 2006, Climate change and Malta, future climate change policy: looking beyond 2012, international workshop 11-12 October 2006, Ljubljana