Commemorated annually on 5 June, this year’s World Environment Day theme is “Green Economy: Does it include you?” This release focuses on government expenditure on green initiatives.

The National Statistics Office said that General Government expenditure on environmental protection, which experienced continuous growth up to 2010. This was followed by a drop in 2011, mainly attributed to the completion of the South Sewage Plant (-€36.7 million), and a decline in capital investment by WasteServ Malta (-€5.5 million).

During the six-year period, government environmental protection expenditure averaged 1.7 per cent of the GDP.

Environmental protection expenditure is further segmented into six themes. Expenditure on waste management accounted for the largest share, followed by waste water management, and protection of biodiversity and landscape.

During the six-year period, government expenditure on the environment (expenditure on solid and liquid waste management) absorbed an average 80 per cent of total expenditure. The lowest expense was attributed to pollution abatement, representing one per cent of total expenditure on environmental protection.

Throughout the period under review, intermediate consumption accounted for the largest share of environmental expenditure. Intermediate consumption is an accounting flow made up of the total monetary value of goods and services consumed or used up as inputs in the production process by enterprises, including raw materials, services and various other operating expenses. The second highest expenditure was attributed to compensation of employees (wages and salaries).

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