Cap. 521 Art. 5Functions of the competent authority.

The competent authority shall have the following functions:

(a) to ensure the development and implementation of Malta’s sustainable development strategy;

(b) to revise the said strategy in line with national, European Union and international developments and to establish the direction the revised strategy is to adopt;

(c) to ensure that the provisions of the strategy are implemented in a timely manner by the responsible actors;

(d) to develop a set of indicators for measuring the progress achieved in the area of sustainable development, and their progressive revision;

(e) to advocate sustainable development across the public administration, the private sector and society in general;

(f) to review Government and specific Ministry policies, plans, programmes and projects to ensure that they are in line with the strategy and to ensure that all Ministries and line entities within the public administration factor sustainable development in their workings;

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

(h) to perform audits to evaluate how the public administration has integrated the principles of sustainable development in its policies, plans, programmes and projects;

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

(j) to encourage and stimulate good practices in the use and sustainable management of natural resources, in particular their minimal use and maximum re-use in an environmentally sustainable manner;

(k) to commit itself to work closely with Local Councils and other stakeholders for the promotion of sustainable development at a local level;

(l) to engage in active consultation with all stakeholders; and

(m) to carry out any other task that may, from time to time, be requested by the Minister in respect of sustainable development.