Malta ratifies Landscape Convention after 25-year delay, as it holds Council of Europe presidency

Malta has ratified the Council of Europe Landscape Convention—a full 25 years after signing it. The move, announced on 26 May, makes Malta the 41st State Party to the Convention, which it first signed on 20 October 2000.

The timing is notable. Malta currently holds the rotating presidency of the Committee of Ministers at the Council of Europe, the organisation’s decision-making body. Yet while the government now speaks the language of environmental commitment, the reality of the island’s record on landscape and development raises serious questions.

The Council of Europe Landscape Convention—adopted in Florence in 2000—was the first international treaty to recognise landscapes as central to cultural identity, quality of life, and sustainable development.

It calls on signatory states to protect, manage, and plan all types of landscapes—not just natural or picturesque ones, but also urban, industrial, and everyday environments. It also promotes international cooperation on shared environmental goals.

Most European countries ratified the Convention within a few years of signing. Malta took 25.

During that time, the country has undergone a dramatic physical transformation. Once known for its terraced fields, limestone villages, and sweeping coastal views, the island is now increasingly defined by high-rise apartment blocks, construction cranes, and shrinking open space.

Environmental NGOs and planning experts have long criticised Malta’s development policies, pointing to the Planning Authority’s leniency towards large-scale construction, even in rural and culturally sensitive areas.

While Malta now holds the presidency of the Council of Europe—a role that entails promoting the organisation’s core values, including human rights and environmental protection—its long-standing reluctance to ratify a foundational environmental treaty may be more symbolic than substantive.

Under the Convention, Malta is now obliged to integrate landscape considerations into all relevant sectors, including urban planning, agriculture, infrastructure, and cultural policy. Whether that will lead to real reform is uncertain. Previous environmental promises have often faltered in the face of developer influence and weak enforcement.

The government has offered no clear roadmap on how it intends to meet its new commitments. Nor has it addressed why it was delayed for so long. In the meantime, many of the landscapes the Convention was designed to protect have already been altered or lost.