Every effort must be made to prevent man-made environmental

Momentum issued a statement on World Environment Day, 5 June 2026, calling for urgent action to protect Malta's environment and tackle the climate crisis. Matthew Agius, a member of Momentum's executive committee, said Malta is not insulated from global environmental pressures. "Over the past year alone, Malta has experienced a series of severe natural events and man-made environmental incidents that highlight how vulnerable we are, even as a small island," he said.

Agius cited Storm Harry, a marine heatwave last summer, and an unusually prolonged icy morning in Rabat as evidence of extreme weather affecting the island. He pointed to multiple scrapyard fires in Marsa, Għaxaq, and Mqabba, as well as fires at the Dingli and Magħtab landfills, all of which generated heavy smoke and raised air quality concerns.

Around the time of the statement, a Lourdes fireworks factory explosion occurred. Momentum said the blast polluted the air, contaminated nearby soil, and potentially affected the water table supplying agriculture and drinking water. "Every effort must be made to prevent man-made environmental incidents.

This requires stronger regulation, better enforcement, and long-term planning that places people and nature before short-term interests," Agius said. Momentum called for every major development project to be accompanied by a published Environmental Impact Assessment, made public by default. The party specifically opposed the proposed new Sliema Lido, describing it as an example of public land handed to private interests, and criticised what it called hotel encroachment along the Maltese coast." The decisions we take today will determine the Malta we leave to our children tomorrow," Agius said.