Cap. 435 Art. 8National Commission for Sustainable Development. regulations.

(1) There is hereby established a commission to be known as the National Commission for Sustainable Development which shall have the composition and which shall carry out the functions set out in this article.

(2) The Commission shall be chaired by the Prime Minister or in his absence the Minister and shall be composed as follows:

(a) all Ministers ex officio or their representatives;

(b) two members of the House of Representatives, one appointed by the Prime Minister and the other by the Leader of the Opposition;

(c) a representative of the Authority;

(d) the Chairman of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development ex officio;

(e) representatives of such public entities as in the opinion of the Prime Minister are relevant to the functions of the Commission;

(f) a representative of the association of local councils;

(g) representatives of organizations which represent or have an interest in business, industry and/or industrial relations, scientific and academic bodies, the media, and other non-governmental organizations, which in the opinion of the Prime Minister are relevant to the functions of the Commission.

(3) The members of the Commission referred to in sub-article (2)(e) to (g) shall be appointed by the Prime Minister after considering the recommendations that are made by the relative body or bodies and shall hold office for such term as may be stated in their letter of appointment and shall be re-eligible for procedure.

(5) The Prime Minister shall assign a public officer to be the secretary of the Commission, and shall from time to time assign to it such other affairs or resources which in his opinion are adequate for it to carry out its functions.

(6) The Commission shall hold its meetings in public and the public shall have access to all the reports of the same Commission.

(7) The Commission shall have the following functions:

(a) to advocate sustainable development across all sectors of Malta, review progress in the achievement of such sustainable development and to build consensus on action needed to achieve further progress;

(b) to identify any relevant process or policy which may be undermining sustainable development and propose alternative processes or policies to the Government for adoption;

(c) to identify trends which may significantly give rise to unsustainable development and which will not be reversed on the basis of current or planned action, and recommend action to reverse such trends;

(d) to increase awareness of the need that development must be sustainable;

(e) to encourage and stimulate good practice in the use and management of natural resources, in particular their minimal use and maximum reuse by recycling in an environmentally sustainable manner;

(f) to prepare a National Strategy for Sustainable Development; and

(g) to carry out such other functions in relation to sustainable development as may be assigned to it by the Prime Minister:

Provided that in carrying out the above-mentioned functions, the Commission may appoint advisory committees to make recommendations on specific subjects or actions which it may deem fit to examine: Provided further that in carrying out its functions, the Commission shall be answerable to the Prime Minister. Recommendations and decisions of the Commission shall have no executive force but shall be considered as authoritative recommendations of best practice in achieving sustainable development.