• Three-quarters of Maltese respondents say the government is not doing enough to tackle climate change.
• Environment and climate are regularly among the top 5 concerns for Maltese people and the 4th-highest concern for young people.
• 35% of people in Malta reported exposure to pollution in 2023 — the highest share in the EU.
• Between mid-2023 and mid-2024, Malta recorded the fastest-growing emissions in the EU. Malta has negotiated its 2030 emissions target down to 19% — less than half the EU’s 40% commitment.
• The government has set up the Climate Action Authority, but its impact remains negligible.
• Malta is the highest proportionate spender on fossil fuel subsidies in the EU, projected at €172 million in 2026.
• Effective protection of natural spaces and enforcement of environmental law are lacking.

Do voters actually care about the environment?

Yes – and consistently – if surveys are the measure to go by. EU-wide surveys put the environment and climate change among the top five concerns for Maltese people.

A 2022 Ernst & Young survey of Maltese found that 93% of young people believe the environment is getting worse. Nearly half of millennials and 40% of Gen Z see it as a major challenge. 

But what do people want? More greenery and less traffic, according to a 2024 survey of children and adolescents.

Maltese respondents say they are ready to sacrifice EU competitiveness to fight climate change, and half are ready to pay more for climate-friendly agricultural products. 

In a 2024 survey, when asked about climate adaptation priorities, two in five Maltese called for tree-lined streets or green spaces to cool urban areas. 

Failing to address the environment can have a devastating impact on Malta’s reputation and industries that rely on it. 

“If people come to the island and they think it’s dirty, full of rubbish and so on, they won’t come,” tourism researcher Marie Avellino told Amphora Media in our short-lets investigation.

How much does Malta spend on the environment? 

Before the last general election, the environment held its own dedicated ministerial portfolio. Since 2022, however, it has been folded into Miriam Dalli’s expansive super-ministry covering Energy, Environment, and Public Cleanliness.

The ministry commands one of the largest budgets in government, with projected annual expenditure of €470 million in 2026. 

The Ministry has also been the largest spender on direct orders and has maintained an uncompetitive public procurement system since Robert Abela became Prime Minister in 2020.

The United Equipment Co (UNEC) Ltd, part of Bonnici Group, was the top beneficiary, receiving over €32.2 million in direct orders for power generation, infrastructural works, industrial supplies, equipment procurement and more.

The Ministry’s single largest outlay is the Energy Support Measures – subsidies designed to shield households and businesses from rising global energy prices – projected at €172 million for 2026, following an actual spend of €183 million in 2024. 

In total, energy support measures will cost Malta €968 million by the end of the year.

Actual expenditure for 2022: €234,189,597
Actual expenditure for 2023: €227,178,199 
Actual expenditure for 2024: €183,200,785
Approved estimate for 2025: €152,000,000 
Estimate for 2026: €172,000,000

This is proportionately more than any other EU country spends and is, alone, one of the largest items in the entire government budget. The EU’s Council has urged the government to “wind down” the subsidies.

The second-largest expense is the Solid Waste Management Strategy at roughly €41 million, followed by €23 million allocated to the feed-in tariff, which compensates households for solar energy sold back to the grid.

On the purely environmental side, the largest line item is the Environment and Resources Authority, whose projected 2026 operating budget is €21.8 million – a notable drop from the €24.4 million spent the year before.

Is climate change treated as an emergency?

Officially, yes. Malta’s parliament unanimously declared a climate emergency in 2019. However, actions have been limited to the creation of the Climate Action Authority (CAA) in October 2024.

An Amphora Media fact-check uncovered that the CAA’s claims that “Malta [was] at the forefront of planning for climate change adaptation” lacked substance and were false. 

Despite its booming economy, Malta lags behind most EU countries in key sustainable development metrics. Meanwhile, commitments are unambitious: the EU has committed to a 40% emissions reduction by 2030, but Malta negotiated its commitment down to only 19%. 

Malta was absent from the Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels conference, where the so-called High Ambition Coalition convened to design measures to address climate change in the absence of UN-level consensus.

Malta is currently ranked 34th out of 63 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index, with the implementation of climate policies rated “poor”. 

Between mid-2023 and mid-2024, Malta recorded the fastest-growing emissions in the EU.  It should be noted that international aviation and maritime transport emissions, important in the Maltese economy, are excluded from calculations.

Flight intensity, cruise liner arrivals, and Malta’s maritime registry – and the pollution that comes with them – have also grown. Malta currently has the largest registry of superyachts in the world and a growing airline registry that includes Ryanair aircraft. Ryanair calls itself “Malta’s No. 1 Airline”.

Meanwhile, an Amphora Media’s investigation revealed that only one in 11 cruise ship calls plugged into shore-to-ship power despite its availability. 

Has Project Green actually greened Malta?

In response to environmental concerns, the government established  Project Green, which aims to protect nature and create accessible green spaces. 

As of October 2024, Project Green said it would be working on 118 projects within different localities. When asked by Amphora Media for a full list in April 2025, Project Green provided a list of 46 projects. 

This year, it has launched public consultation calls for public park works at Manoel Island, Fort Campbell and White Rocks.

Our 2025 analysis showed that a fifth of Project Green’s planning applications included car parks, while a majority of projects fell within the constituencies of Minister Miriam Dalli and Prime Minister Robert Abela.

Beyond that, the Maltese government also diverted nearly 12% of EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funding to Project Green, with no clear benefits to farmers.

Is Malta becoming cleaner?

In 2023, more than a third of people (35%) in Malta reported exposure to pollution, grime, and other environmental problems. This is the highest share in the EU and nearly three times the EU average of 12%. According to the report, high-earning households were more affected than low-earning ones.

Malta still relies heavily on landfilling, while a proposed waste-to-energy incinerator remains what it has been since its announcement in 2017: a proposal. Concerns have also been raised over its potential effectiveness.

In 2024, Circular Economy Malta, a government agency, introduced a scheme to encourage shops to offer discounts or other benefits to users who bring their own containers. The agency claims that this initiative has successfully prevented the use of 63,524 single-use containers – 87% of them were detergent containers. The take-up in other sectors proved lagging.

Is the government protecting nature or hunters?

Hunting and trapping remain a hot-button issue for many Maltese. However, both the PL and the PN have often failed to take action against the practices, amid allegations that they are afraid to take on the 10,000-strong FKNK and risk losing votes.

Malta has been subject to infringement proceedings over bird trapping. Yet the government has regularly changed the rules to ensure that trappers are granted a scientific derogation to continue the practice. 

Our fact-check showed that trapping has not produced scientifically useful research. The government has still issued a €7,500 direct order to FKNK to carry out ‘scientific’ bird ringing (read more about direct orders).

Pledges for constitutional protection – either for hunters or the environment, as the PL and PN have done respectively – are non-enforceable in court, and penalties are mild, despite proposals from both the PN and PL.

Another Amphora Media fact-check showed that the government had not used cultural heritage tools for that purpose. Hobbies such as fireworks, hunting, trapping, and shooting have not been added to Malta’s inventory of intangible heritage.

PL’s 2022 electoral manifesto had something for nature and heritage lovers too: it promised “green networks” for ramblers, hikers and “all those who visit the Maltese countryside.”  It is not clear how a network would be defined.

Amphora Media spoke to Ingram Bondin, the president of Ramblers’ Association of Malta to check up on the status of the network.

“It’s not ready, by any means, and it was a very slow process,” he said, praising Ambjent Malta for maintaining existing trails but pointing out that there is no network to speak of.

“[To move forward] you have to identify the sites that you really want the public to visit, and you have to break some eggs. For example, we have very beautiful sites that are becoming inaccessible as large landowners buy up everything. So if you want to give the public access to some of the most beautiful sites in Malta, you will have to challenge this.”

Bondin says that there is a lot of appetite for walkable spaces as people want “to relieve themselves from the construction, and the general chaotic environment of the towns”.

Are Malta’s seas ignored in the environmental conversation?

The sea is arguably Malta’s only wilderness. The EU’s Biodiversity Strategy sets a target of protecting 30% of the EU’s seas, and members of Malta’s government say the country is protecting about a third of its waters. Does it mean that the target has been achieved?

Our fact-check showed that this was another misleading claim. 

Malta has indeed designated marine Natura 2000 sites. These are not nature reserves – human activities such as fishing and tourism are allowed, as long as protected species remain in good condition. But Malta has a vast marine territory, of which it protects only under 10%. 

Even some protected areas are criss-crossed by heavy vessel traffic, alongside pressures from fishing, pollution and water sports.

Manoel Island: was the promise fulfilled?

Malta’s government has re-acquired Manoel Island from MIDI in a €47.3 million deal, ahead of a €50 million bond repayment deadline in July 2026.

It was seen as a major win for activists, after a long-standing complaint seeking to rescind Manoel Island from the MIDI concession due to numerous breaches. 

MIDI had claimed to have lost 10 years due to archaeological excavations on the two sites included in the concession, including when cemeteries were found. However, Amphora Media’s fact-check showed that the delays were not entirely outside MIDI’s control.

The deal has come at a hefty price, paid for with taxpayers’ money.

Project Green has since launched a call for the public to submit ideas for Manoel Island, alongside two other sites. The page for this consultation is now a dead link, and no summary of responses has been published.

Meanwhile, the Planning Authority’s case officer recommended granting permission to Sharlon Pace on behalf of Gzira United Football Club to sanction illegal padel courts on the island.

What to watch for:

Among Amphora Media’s 16 published fact-checks, five concerned environmental topics. Many propaganda claims continue to circulate, incorrectly claiming that Malta is a “leader” in climate change policy while politicians promise more fossil fuel extraction and processing.

But while many voters may not be thinking about the grand scheme of climate change, there are issues closer to home: polluted air, waste, declining biodiversity and urban heat.

Are political parties going to admit that the current system is not failing to protect nature? Will anyone dare to name the actors accountable for it – developers, environmental crime perpetrators and polluters?

Concerns over Malta’s traffic problem are always top of the agenda. It consistently ranks among the top public concerns, including in EY’s annual youth survey.

According to Malta’s National Transport Master Plan, the cost of traffic congestion in 2025 was €770 million and is projected to reach €917 million per year by 2030.

That figure does not include environmental costs, such as CO₂ emissions and other air pollutants, which are expected to impose a further €195.4 million per year on the Maltese economy.  

Neither does it cover productivity and social losses in the country. 89% of respondents in a recent survey said that traffic tires them out. Three-quarters also reported missing out on socialising because they dreaded parking and traffic.

Behind those costs lies a simple physical reality: Malta now has 457,403 licensed motor vehicles, and the fleet continues to grow by roughly 35 vehicles a day.

The total number of licensed motor vehicles on Malta’s roads has grown consistently over the past decade, rising from 346,918 in 2015 to 457,403 by the end of 2025 – an increase of 110,485 vehicles, or 31.8% growth over eleven years. 

Growth has been broadly steady, averaging approximately 10,000–11,000 additional vehicles per year.

Today, there are roughly 1,447 vehicles per square kilometre across Malta’s 316 km² land area. 

The growth in vehicles runs concurrently with population growth, the latter mostly brought on by foreign nationals; between 2015 and 2025, Malta’s population increased from 434,000 to 565,000 – a little over 130,000 people.

According to the TomTom Traffic Index, it takes nearly 22 min to drive 10 km in the area around Valletta.

Mass Transport: The Election Carrot

Malta’s plans for a mass transit system are nothing new. They are the carrot that successive governments, PL and PN alike, have dangled before the public without ever following through.

Between 2007 and 2008, the then-Nationalist government commissioned Halcrow to conduct feasibility studies for both Bus Rapid Transit and a Light Rail Network. 

The capital cost for the latter was estimated at between €206 million and €325 million – modest by the standards of the metro and light rail proposals that would follow – with annual operating costs of approximately €7.5 million. 

Both studies were shelved in favour of the notorious Arriva bus privatisation, itself scrapped within three years by the incoming Labour government.

In 2016, a year before the general election, the government published its National Transport Strategy 2050, which identified mass transit as a priority but stopped well short of any binding commitment.

In 2021, again a year before a general election, Transport Malta unveiled an Arup-commissioned proposal for a 35-kilometre, €6.2 billion metro network comprising three lines and 25 stations, most of them underground. Those plans, too, were abandoned on cost grounds.

Then, in April 2026, just days before the general election was called, the government and Transport Minister Chris Bonett announced a revised €2.8 billion ‘La Vallette’ light rail line. 

Bonett said construction would begin within five years, with technical studies to run over the next 18 months. Whether the project will progress beyond the study phase – or join its predecessors in the drawer – remains, as ever, to be seen.

A look at the current public transport system

Free public transport for residents, introduced in October 2022 at an annual cost of around €32.6 million, is the headline policy of the term. 

Use of Malta’s public transport has grown steadily in recent years. In 2024, more than 75.8 million journeys were made on the public bus network – a 12.7% increase on the previous year. The number of registered public transport users also rose, reaching 309,300, up 12.4% from 2023.

Alongside bus services, the government has been expanding sea links between the islands. A fast ferry service connecting Sliema, Buġibba and Gozo was inaugurated on 5th May.

According to the Planning Authority, bike lanes connect Pembroke with St. Paul’s Bay, the airport with Birzebbugia, and Rabat with Attard, but not a single one leads to the University of Malta or MCAST.

Deaths, accidents and injuries:

Between 2010 and 2025, Malta recorded 251 road traffic fatalities. The annual toll has been highly variable, reflecting the unpredictable nature of serious road accidents.

The lowest years on record were 2012 and 2021, both recording just 9 fatalities. In contrast, 2022 was the deadliest year in the dataset with 28 fatalities, the highest figure recorded across the entire analysed period. This was followed by 2016 (23) and 2017 (19).

Looking at who is dying matters as much as how many. Drivers and passengers in enclosed vehicles account for the largest share of road deaths, followed by pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists.

The relative figures tell a starker story than the headcounts. Motorcyclists make up roughly 11% of Malta’s vehicle fleet but account for around a quarter of road deaths. Pedestrians, who are not even vehicle operators, account for more than a quarter of fatalities.

What to watch for:

For voters cutting through the rhetoric, the questions that matter are simpler than the manifestos suggest. Close to half of the Maltese residents surveyed “strongly agreed” that thinking about traffic increases their anxiety. 

Is any party committing not just to announce a mass transit project, but to break ground within the parliamentary term? Is anyone proposing to address private vehicle imports, or relying entirely on demand-side incentives? Is the link between population policy and transport policy being made honestly, or is each treated as someone else’s problem? Is roadbuilding spending going up, down, or sideways under each party’s plan?

The carrot has been dangled before. The test, as ever, is whether 2026 is the year someone takes a bite.