Electromobility; charging Malta’s future

The Malta Chamber’s newly established Sustainable Mobility Committee held a high level meeting with representatives from the Authority for Transport in Malta, Enemalta Corporation, Enemed, and the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the country over the next few years when it comes to electromobility.

In particular, the Committee emphasised the need to strengthen dialogue between the various stakeholders including policy makers, regulators and businesses to reach the challenging commitments on reducing greenhouse gases in the coming years. This is even more important with the recent publication of the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy by the European Commission which reiterates the most serious challenge facing the transport sector which needs to become more sustainable and reduce greenhouse gases by at least 55% by 2030.

Chairman of the committee, Mr. Konrad Pulé, explained that the electrification of the vehicle fleet is a unifying factor for different stakeholders in transport, and it can be very effective in working towards the goals set out by the European Commission. However, it poses major challenges for businesses that operate in the transport sector or even in other sectors, and for people in general. This includes infrastructure, education, range anxiety, affordability, and the overall package of owning or using electric vehicles in Malta.

The Committee put forward a proposal to set up a working group between the Malta Chamber and the various stakeholders, in order to discuss and agree on realistic and feasible actions that can be taken to achieve the desired results. All stakeholders present for the meeting recognised the importance of such close collaboration with the businesses, and further meetings will be set up to continue with these discussions.

Going forward, the Malta Chamber will continue to play its part to ensure that businesses are well prepared for the evolution of transport and mobility in the coming years.