Following publication of the results of the public consultation on Constitutional Reform, published on Monday, it results that 25% of respondents were gravely concerned about the Malta Constitution’s lack of protection for our islands’ natural and cultural and heritage.
In October 2019 Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar campaigned with its members to submit proposed changes, in response to the public consultation for constitutional reform. The protection of Malta’s environment and heritage offered by our Constitution is purely symbolic, as while it states:
(1) The State shall safeguard the landscape and the historical and artistic patrimony of the Nation.
(2) The State shall protect and conserve the environment and its resources for the benefit of the present and future generations and shall take measures to address any form of environmental degradation in Malta, including that of air, water and land, and any sort of pollution problem and to promote, nurture and support the right of action in favour of the environment.
All this is undermined in the Declaration of Principles (clause 21):
The provisions of this Chapter shall not be enforceable in any court…