National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2012.

The Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs presents this National Strategy for Climate Change and Adaptation following the review of the work submitted to it by the Climate Change Committee appointed in August 2009 and a review of the feedback received following the national consultation process the Ministry held between November 2010 and June 2011. 50. The Department of Agriculture will undertake the appropriate study and action to maintain Maltese agro-ecosystems through the management of agricultural landscapes given the central role they play in contributing to overall resilience to climate change. 51. The Department of Agriculture will strive to secure synergy between mitigation and adaptation strategies so as to vitalise agricultural activity since this can contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing its emissions, through the production of renewable energies and bio-products, and by storing and accumulating carbon in soils.
The human cost of these climatic events directly depends on the vulnerability of the people exposed. Social and environmental determinants of health, such as poverty, support systems, concurrent environmental stresses (including polluted water, unprotected waste disposal or polluted air) and displacement, all contribute to population vulnerability.