Valletta, 3 November 2015 – Islands are calling on national governments and international organisations to support their plans to ‘go green’, because their remote location makes them ideal testing grounds for innovative, climate-friendly solutions. The ‘Greening the Islands’ conference, focused on sustainability challenges concerning mobility, energy and water, saw the active participation of delegations from Malta, the Sicilian islands, the Canary and Balearic Islands, Greek islands, the Azores, Cyprus and the Caribbean islands.
The islands – meeting in Malta for the three-day Greening the Islands conference last week – shared recommendations for the Paris Climate Conference, to be held in December.
‘Greening the Islands’ recommends the 2015 Paris Climate Conference COP21 to acknowledge the role of islands as natural laboratories for confronting climate change. It also calls upon COP21 for action to support and ease investments in sustainability on islands.
More specifically, islands call for support in encouraging:
- Action to preserve islands’ fragile environments and increase their resilience to climate change;
- Best practices and investment in research, development and deployment of sustainability solutions on islands, by reduction of red tape and tax incentives.
A ‘Greening the Islands’ Scientific Committee is already working on the next event to identify priorities and best practices.
Gianni Chianetta, Scientific Co-ordinator of Greening the Islands and Director of The Green Consulting Group, commented: “It is crucial that islands speak with a single voice, because they are on the frontline in tackling the challenges of Climate Change, security of supply and migrations. Islands are natural laboratories for innovative and integrated solutions. We invite more islands to join the Greening the Islands platform.”
Note to editors:
Greening the Islands is a unique, international event to inspire our collective work around the nexus of energy, water and mobility on islands and in remote locations. The conference’s 2nd edition, held in Malta on 28-29-30 October 2015, gives the chance to discover projects that are being implemented in locations around the world as well as to meet the protagonists involved.
The Green Consulting Group – in collaboration with the Government of Malta and Transport Malta and with the support of UN WWAP UNESCO, the Global Water Partnership and many other sector institutions – brings together experts to discuss best practices, innovative technologies and how to manage infrastructure and systems in the most economically and ecologically efficient way. The event benefits from the support of Ascot Industrial, Global Hybrid Power, MegaCivic, SMA Solar Technology, SOPES and Electric Vehicles.
The Malta event also saw the inaugural Greening the Islands Awards, an initiative not only showcasing the best technologies, projects and practices but also facilitating information exchange and setting the bar for future collaborative cooperation and competition among islands.
For further information: http://www.greeningtheislands.com
Press Office:
Cecilia Bergamasco – press@greeningtheislands.com – mob.+39.347.9306784
James Osborne – press@greeningtheislands.com – mob.+39. 349.7937853
