Malta’s first edition of the Climate Action Awards organised by the Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning was held on the 27th of October 2021. This initiative formed part of the #ClimateOn Campaign – the national education and awareness raising campaign on climate action.
The aim of this initiative was to recognize and celebrate achievements driven by local businesses, public and private organisations, groups and individuals towards climate action. The Awards sought to act as a catalyst in encouraging and inspiring others to take action towards reducing emissions and adapting to climate change.
Actors from different sectors had the opportunity to showcase projects that they are already implementing to mitigate against or adapt to climate change. This was highlighted during the opening speech delivered by Hon. Minister Dr. Aaron Farrugia, who applauded the applicants and encouraged others to follow in their footsteps. He said that collective action will lead to the fulfilment of our commitment towards a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. All this, within the framework of the national Low Carbon Development Strategy, which was recently launched for public consultation.
The Awards ceremony was hosted at the Intercontinental Hotel in St. Julians, with all participants in attendance. The Ceremony presented the awards to five winners of the five categories and an overall winner: the Climate Action Crusader. The most popular project voted by the public was also presented with a trophy. In addition to the Climate Action Awards, the prizes of the Seed Green Programme, a separate initiative aimed at promoting the entrepreneurship of climate related and sustainable business ideas, were also awarded.
The five categories and the respective winners were the following:
The Agents of Change Category which focused on private entities was won by TAPP Water (Malta) for their TAPP Water filter. The work supported the installation of water taps, that can provide filtered water used at home, eliminating the need for bottled water. Emissions are saved during the production, distribution and waste management of bottled water and its containers. The prize money for this award category was made possible thanks to the sponsorship from the Building and Construction Authority. The finalists included the Goto Ltd “Vehicle Sharing” initiative and Powerezi Ltd with the “Vassallo Business Park Solar Rooftop Project”
The Facilitator Category was about climate action from within the Public Sector, with the Energy and Water Agency winning the category for their Energy Efficiency Scheme for Sports Organizations. The scheme supports the sports sector to improve their facilities energy efficiency, reducing consumption energy resulting in a reduction in their carbon footprint. The prize money for this award category was made possible thanks to the sponsorship by the Malta Resource Authority. The finalist included the Valletta Cultural Agency with the “Valletta Design Cluster” and Water Services Corporation with “Upgrading the Capacity of Seawater Reverse Osmosis Plants to Improve the Energy Efficiency of Potable Water Production”
The Illuminator category for researchers was won by the Department of Biology, of the University of Malta, with the project SIMASEED. It involved the storage and genetic research of native seeds, to be able to better withstand the impacts of climate change in nature, thus increasing nature’s resilience to climate change. The prize money for this award category was made possible thanks to the sponsorship by the Research, Innovation and Development Trust. The finalists included the Faculty for the Built Environment with 2 different projects, “Green and Energy Service infrastructures through ultra-high durability high-performance cement-based materials” and “CESBA Sustainability Assessment Tool and Training Platform”.
The Engagers category for engagement and awareness initiatives was won by the Malta Business Bureau, which reached out to various entities in the private sector in the form of capacity building workshops which led to the increased uptake of Energy Efficiency approaches within private entities, including through the use of energy audits. The prize money for this award category was made possible thanks to the sponsorship from the Climate-KIC hub within MCAST. The finalists included NGO Żibel, with “SWAP Events and SwapShop” initiative and Nature Trust-FEE Malta with “Empowering Young people”
Lastly, the Innovator category was won by the start-up
company FLASC and the Faculty
of Engineering within the University of Malta, for developing an innovative
technology designed to store renewable energy produced from solar and wind
power. The prize money for this award category was made possible thanks to the
sponsorship by Malta Enterprise. The other finalists were the Faculty for the Built Environment with “ReCon: Recycled Low-Impact High-Performance Concrete” and the Institute for Sustainable Energy with “Solaqua project”
The FLASC project was also chosen to be Malta’s Climate Action Crusader for 2021, for the important gap it closes to make the generation and use of renewable energy feasible in Malta. Whilst generating clean and zero emission energy is crucial, energy storage makes clean energy more reliable by making it available at all times. In addition, the technology can be adapted in the future for use in Green Hydrogen production. Ultimately, these advancements will help Malta to reach its climate goal of being carbon neutrality by 2050.
The awards were also sponsored by
the Environment and Resources Authority, Ambjent Malta, the Planning Authority
and Circular Economy Malta (CE Malta).
The public was also invited to choose their favourite climate action project for a separate Public Vote Trophy. The winner of this section was San Andrea School for their ‘Sing For The Climate - Do It Now! (Malta Edition 2021)’ song. This involved the recording of a song and video calling for climate action, which was broadcasted live in August 2021, with the goal of expressing the younger generations’ call for climate action.
The Seedgreen Programme, is an initiative by the Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning and the Junior Chamber International supported by MaltaEnterprise. Its purpose was to serve as capacity building for individuals interested in contributing solutions to the Climate Crisis. It equipped them with the knowledge and skills necessary to take new ideas to the state of start-ups, through two stages (Validator and Accelerator) each with a series of trainers and mentors. This culminated in the selection of the best three business ideas.
Pierre Axiaq and Clyde Zammit were awarded first place and a €12,000 cash prize for their project tal-Kampanjol. This sought to provide a farming alternative based on scientific methods, leading to 95% less water use, yet sustaining a high level of productivity throughout the year. This contributes to resilience to climate impacts, which severely threatens the local agricultural sector. The award for this category was made possible thanks to the sponsorship from Tech.MT.
Second place and a €10,000 prize were
awarded to Amy Sargent for her business idea of Ecowash, a washing liquid using
only natural ingredients. The product reduces impacts on marine ecosystems,
which are under threat. The prize money for this award category was made
possible thanks to the sponsorship by MDIA (Malta Digital Innovation
Authority).
The third place and €8,000 were given to Karin Caligari for project PlantB, an app which
provides users with inspiration and activities to help in improving
sustainability. This takes into account impacts of carbon emissions, land and
water use through which one’s carbon footprint could be reduced. The prize
money for this award category was made possible thanks to the sponsorship by
MTA (Malta Public Transport).