Despite releasing an opinion paper on environmental resources, in which it encouraged Christians to use their moral and ethical sense, the Maltese Church Environment Commission made no comment on the ongoing Ramla l-Hamra development saga. The commission said it could not comment on issues that fell under the remit of the Gozo diocese.

The environment commission's opinion paper deals instead with three other main issues: land use, the use of water and biodiversity. It points out that the Church wants to encourage Christians to go a step further from what the law provided, and take into consideration what was ethical and moral when making choices that could have an impact on the environment.

It states that, "The Church needs to be a clear and courageous sign of the times. With its sincere interest in the holistic development of humans - because they are created in God's image - the Church is in the best position to find the right balance between the three dimensions of sustainable development: the environment, society and economy".

The paper makes the point that although hunting and trapping are not a sin, the signs are that these pastimes are no longer sustainable. The paper added that, "A clear indication that this pastime is becoming unsustainable is the ever decreasing number of birds that visit our islands. It is evident that the greatest impact on bird populations is due to certain human pressures such as pollution, the destruction of natural habitats, the increase in urbanisation, use of pesticides and climate change. However, uncontrolled hunting and bird trapping is certainly not helping the birds who managed to survive all these hazards to reproduce and ensure greater flocks."

The paper empasises that " We are living on a small island with a population density that is among the highest in the world and with serious limitations of natural resources. Nevertheless, some of us behave as though Malta is a vast continent with unlimited environmental resources. Most of the environmental problems that we are currently trying to address and which are seriously threatening the economic and social development of our islands are the result of such a mentality."

The paper defines sustainability in the building industry as " making the extra effort to find alternative sites that would still satisfy your building needs by, for example, making use of already existing building and developed land. In the meantime, when selling property to finance similar projects, property owners need to ensure that their land does not end up in the unscrupulous hands of speculators who would further the exploitation of land to the detriment of our society and our natural environment."

The paper also calls on the authorities to be convinced of the urgency of the situation and to courageously utilise every method at their disposal to crack down on the waste, theft and abuse of our water resources. They have the means to address the problem through coordinated managerial interventions.

Turning to the use of water, the paper clearly states that water theft is a sin and adds that it, "wished that the Church in Malta, especially at the level of parishes, would make it very clear, that water theft - whichever way it is done and by whoever it is done - is a sin. It is really a shame that this vital resource is being contaminated or lost because of indifference and negligence."