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WHO/UNFCCC Climate & Health Profile
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WHO / UNFCCC Climate & Health Profile 2021

National Context

Country Background

Located in the Mediterranean Sea, the Maltese Archipelago is composed of six islands of which Malta is the largest. The Malta and Gozo islands are characterized by low hills in the north and plains in the south (1). Classified as a high-income country, Malta’s economy predominantly depends on foreign trade, services and tourism (2,3). The Maltese population is one of the smallest in the world, yet it is one of the most densely populated countries worldwide (1).

Malta’s climate is typically Mediterranean with dry, hot summers and rainy, mild winters. The highest precipitation rates occur between November and February. Malta has experienced increasing air and sea surface temperatures, decreasing annual precipitation, and more frequent intense rainfall events that cause flooding, threaten water resources, agriculture and infrastructure. Climate-sensitive health risks include heat stress, vector-borne and foodborne diseases (such as salmonellosis), and increased risk of deaths and injuries from flash floods (1).

Malta, as a member of the European Union (EU) is committed to the European Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which seeks to mitigate at least 55% of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared with the 1990 levels (4). The Maltese National Adaptation Strategy includes health adaptation measures, such as surveillance of vector-borne diseases, reducing risks associated with food safety, and education campaigns on climate and health issues (5).

Highest Priority Climate Sensitive Health Risks

Current and Future Climate Hazards

Climate Hazard Projections for Slovakia

Country-specific projections are outlined up to the year 2100 for climate hazards under a ‘business as usual’ (BAU) high emissions scenario compared to projections under a ‘two-degree’ scenario with rapidly decreasing global emissions (see Figures 1–5).

The climate model projections given below present climate hazards under a high emissions scenario, Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5 – in orange) and a low emissions scenario (RCP2.6 – in green).a The text describes the projected changes averaged across about 20 global climate models (thick line). The figuresb also show each model individually as well as the 90% model range (shaded) as a measure of uncertainty and the annual and smoothed observed record (in blue).c In the following text the present-day baseline refers to the 30-year average for 1981–2010 and the end-of-century refers to the 30-year average for 2071–2100.

Modelling uncertainties associated with the relatively coarse spatial scale of the models compared with that of geographically small countries are not explicitly represented. There are also issues associated with the availability and representativeness of observed data for some locations.

Figure 1: Mean annual temperature, 1900–2100

Rising temperature

Under a high emissions scenario, the mean annual temperature is projected to rise by about 3.7°C on average by the end-of-century (i.e. 2071–2100 compared with 1981–2010). If emissions decrease rapidly, the temperature rise is limited to about 1.2°C.

Figure 2: Total annual precipitation, 1900–2100

Decrease in total precipitation

Total annual precipitation is projected to decrease by about 25% on average under a high emissions scenario, although the uncertainty range is large (-46% to -2%). If emissions decrease rapidly, there is little projected change on average, with an uncertainty range of -13% to +8%.

Figure 3: Percentage of hot days (‘heat stress’), 1900–2100

More high temperature extremes

The percentage of hot daysd is projected to increase substantially from about 15% of all days on average in 1981–2010 (10% in 1961–1990).
Under a high emissions scenario, about 80% of days on average are defined as ‘hot’ by the end-of-century. If emissions decrease rapidly, about 40% of days on average are ‘hot’. Similar increases are seen in hot nightsd (not shown).

Figure 4: Contribution of very wet days (‘extreme rainfall’ and ‘flood risk’) to total annual rainfall, 1900–2100

Small increase in extreme rainfall

Under a high emissions scenario, the proportion of total annual rainfall from very wet dayse (about 25% for 1981–2010) could increase a little by the end-of-century (to about 30% on average with an uncertainty range of about 5% to 50%), with little change if emissions decrease rapidly.
These projected changes are accompanied by a decrease in total annual rainfall under a high emissions scenario (see Figure 2).

Figure 5: Standardized Precipitation Index (‘drought’), 1900–2100

Drought frequency and intensity

The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is a widely used drought index which expresses rainfall deficits/excesses over timescales ranging from 1 to 36 months (here 12 months, i.e. SPI12).
It shows how at the same time extremely dry and extremely wet conditions, relative to the average local conditions, change in frequency and/or intensity. SPI is unitless but can be used to categorize different severities of drought (wet): above +2.0 extremely wet; +2.0 to +1.5 severely wet; +1.5 to +1.0 moderately wet; +1.0 to +0.5 slightly wet; +0.5 to -0.5 near normal conditions; -0.5 to -1.0 slight drought; -1.0 to -1.5 moderate drought; -1.5 to -2.0 severe drought; below -2.0 extreme drought.

Under a high emissions scenario, SPI12 values are projected to decrease substantially from about 0 to -0.9 on average by the end-of-century (2071–2100) indicating an increase in the frequency and/or intensity of dry episodes and drought events. If emissions decrease rapidly, there is little change although year-to-year variability remains large.

Health Risks Due to Climate Change

Health in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)

Health in the NDCs

  • Ambitious national climate action can have significant health benefits.
  • NDCs can be strengthened by considering health protection and health promotion.
  • National reporting to the UNFCCC and negotiations provide opportunities to link climate and health action.

Health co-benefits of mitigation in NDCs

Health adaptation in NDCs

Implementation for health in NDCs

Total 2018 emissions

2190.5 kt CO2 equivalent (18)

NDC target

At least a 55% domestic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared with the 1990 levels (4)

National Response

Health System Capacity and Adaptation: Monitoring Progress

The following section measures progress in the health sector in responding to climate threats based on country reported data collected in the 2021 WHO Health and Climate Change Country Survey.

Governance and Leadership

National Planning for Health and Climate Change

Question questioncategory question Answer
Has a national health and climate change strategy or plan been developed ? YES
Are the health co-benefits of climate change mitigation action considered in the strategy/plan? YES
Level of implementation of the strategy/plan? Moderate
Portion of estimated costs to implement the strategy/plan covered in the health budget None
Are health adaptation priorities identified in the strategy/plan? YES
Notes
Table Legend: Yes (√) / No (X) / Unknown/Not applicable (N/A).
Definition: In this context, a national strategy or plan is a broad term that includes national health and climate strategies as well as the health component of national adaptation plans (H-NAPs).

 

Intersectoral Collaboration to Address Climate Change

Is there an agreement in place between the ministry of health and this sector which defines specific roles and responsibilities in relation to links between health and climate change policy?

Question questioncategory question Answer
Is there an agreement in place between the ministry of health and this sector which defines specific roles and responsibilities in relation to links between health and climate change policy? Transportation YES
Is there an agreement in place between the ministry of health and this sector which defines specific roles and responsibilities in relation to links between health and climate change policy? Electricity generation NO
Is there an agreement in place between the ministry of health and this sector which defines specific roles and responsibilities in relation to links between health and climate change policy? Household energy NO
Is there an agreement in place between the ministry of health and this sector which defines specific roles and responsibilities in relation to links between health and climate change policy? Agriculture NO
Is there an agreement in place between the ministry of health and this sector which defines specific roles and responsibilities in relation to links between health and climate change policy? Social services NO
Is there an agreement in place between the ministry of health and this sector which defines specific roles and responsibilities in relation to links between health and climate change policy? Water, Sanitation & Waste-water management YES
Notes
Table Legend: Yes (√) / No (X) / Unknown/Not applicable (N/A)
Yes = Specific roles and responsibilities between the national health authority and the sector indicated are defined in the agreement.

Evidence and Implementation

Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessments for Health

Question questioncategory question Answer
Has an assessment of health vulnerability and impacts of climate change been conducted at a national level? NO
→ Level of influence of the assessment findings on policy prioritization to address the health risks of climate change N/A
→ Level of influence of the assessment findings on human and financial resource allocation to address the health risks of climate change N/A
Notes
Table Legend:
Question 1: Yes (√) / No (X) / Unknown/Not applicable (N/A)
Questions 2 and 3: None, Minimal, Somewhat, Strong

 

Climate-sensitive diseases and health outcomes qid Health surveillance system is in place (a) Health surveillance system includes meteorological information (b)
Thermal stress (e.g. heat waves) 22111 YES YES
Vector-borne diseases 22121 YES NO
Foodborne diseases 22131 YES NO
Waterborne diseases 22141 YES NO
Nutrition (e.g. malnutrition associated with extreme-climatic events) 22151 Unknown
Injuries (e.g. physical injuries or drowning in extreme weather events) 22161 YES NO
Mental health and well-being 22171 Unknown Unknown
Airborne and respiratory diseases 22181 YES
Notes
Table Legend: Yes (√) / No (X) / Unknown/Not applicable (N/A)
(a) A positive response indicates that the health surveillance system is in place, it will identify changing health risks or impacts AND it will trigger early action.
(b) Meteorological information refers to either short-term weather information, seasonal climate information OR long-term climate information

 

Climate hazard qid Health early warning system (HEWS) in place? Health sector response plan in place? Health sector response plan includes meteorological information?
Heat waves 23111 YES YES YES
Storms (e.g. hurricanes, monsoons, typhoons) 23131 Unknown Unknown Unknown
Flooding 23141 YES YES YES
Drought 23161 NO NO Unknown
Air quality (e.g. particulate matter, ozone levels) 23171 NO NO NO
Notes
Table Legend: Yes (√) / No (X) / Unknown/Not applicable (N/A)

Capacity, Infrastructure and Sustainability

Human Resource Capacity

Question questioncategory question Answer
Is there a national curriculum developed to train health personnel on the health impacts of climate change? YES
Does your human resource capacity as measured through the International Health Regulations Monitoring Framework (IHR) adequately consider the human resource requirements to respond to climate-related events? Partially
Notes
Table Legend: Yes (√) / No (X) / Unknown/Not applicable (N/A)

 

Health Care Facilities, Infrastructure and Technology

Question questioncategory question Answer
Has there been a national assessment of the climate resilience of health infrastructure and technology? NO
Have measures been taken to increase the climate resilience of health infrastructure and technology? Partially
Is there a national initiative/programme in place to promote the use of low-carbon, energy-efficient, sustainable technologies in the health sector? NO
Notes:
Table Legend: Yes (√) / No (X) / Unknown/Not applicable (N/A)

 

Finance

Question questioncategory question Answer
Is your government currently accessing international funds to support climate change and health work?
Notes:
Table Legend: Yes (√) / No (X) / Unknown/Not applicable (N/A)

 

Funding Challenges

Greatest challenges faced in accessing international climate funds

Question questioncategory question Answer
Greatest challenges faced in accessing international climate funds Lack of information on the opportunities
Greatest challenges faced in accessing international climate funds Lack of country eligibility
Greatest challenges faced in accessing international climate funds Lack of connection by health actors to climate change processes
Greatest challenges faced in accessing international climate funds Lack of capacity to prepare country proposals
Greatest challenges faced in accessing international climate funds Lack of success in submitted applications
Greatest challenges faced in accessing international climate funds None (no challenges/challenges were minimal)
Greatest challenges faced in accessing international climate funds Not applicable
Greatest challenges faced in accessing international climate funds Other (please specify)

Opportunities for Action

1. STRENGTHEN IMPLEMENTATION OF MALTA’S NATIONAL HEALTH AND CLIMATE CHANGE PLAN/STRATEGY

Implementation of the health and climate change plan/strategy in Malta is reported to be moderate. Assess barriers to implementation of the plan/strategy (e.g. governance, evidence, monitoring and evaluation, finance). Implementation can be supported by exploring additional opportunities to access funds for health and climate change priorities (e.g. GCF readiness proposal). See “WHO resources for action” for further details.

2. CONDUCT A CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION ASSESSMENT

Malta has not conducted a climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessment. Assess Malta’s vulnerability to climate-related health risks. Information gathered through iterative climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessments can be used to inform the development of health adaptation policies and plans as well as national climate change reporting mechanisms (e.g. Nationally Determined Contributions [NDCs], National Communications [NCs], National Adaptation Plans [NAPs]). See “WHO resources for action” for further details.

3. STRENGTHEN INTEGRATED RISK SURVEILLANCE AND HEALTH EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS

Meteorological information is not currently used to inform risk surveillance of all climate-sensitive diseases. The use of climate/weather information can be integrated into health surveillance systems and used to predict outbreaks of climate-sensitive diseases (i.e. climate-informed health early warning systems) to help ensure a preventive approach to specific climate-sensitive health programmes.

4. ASSESS THE HEALTH CO-BENEFITS OF NATIONAL CLIMATE MITIGATION POLICIES

Health co-benefits of mitigation are currently not included in Malta’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Ensure that climate mitigation policies include the health risks posed by climate change, identify health adaptation priorities and measure and optimize the health co-benefits of climate mitigation action.

5. BUILD CLIMATE-RESILIENT AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES

Measures can be taken to prevent the potentially devastating impacts of climate change on health care facilities and health service provision while decreasing the climate and environmental footprint of health care facilities. A commitment towards climate-resilient, environmentally sustainable health care facilities can improve system stability, promote a healing environment and mitigate climate change impacts.

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PUBLICATION

Zero regrets: scaling up action on climate change mitigation and adaptation for health in the WHO European Region, second edition. Key messages from the Working Group on Health in Climate Change

Без сожалений. Расширение масштабов деятельности по смягчению последствий изменения климата и адаптации к ним в целях охраны здоровья в Европейском регионе ВОЗ, второе издание. Основные тезисы Рабочей группы по изменению климата и его влиянию на здоровье

EN, RU

World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, 2023

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