Cap. 643 Art. 2Interpretation.    Cap. 552.   Cap. 490.   Cap 460.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

"adaptation" means human-driven adjustments in ecological, social or economic systems or policy processes, in response to actual or expected climate stimuli and their effects or impacts;

"Authority" means the Climate Action Authority established by article 9 and includes any body or other person acting on its behalf in terms of powers delegated by the Board under this Act;

"Board" means the Board of the Authority appointed in accordance with article 9;

"Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the Climate Action Authority and includes, in the circumstances mentioned in article 3(3), the Deputy Chairperson or other person appointed to act as Chairperson;

"climate" includes water scarcity, droughts and energy;

"climate change" means a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods;

"climate system" means the totality of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and geosphere and their interactions;

"Chief Executive Officer" means the Chief Executive Officer appointed in accordance with article 12(2);

"emissions" means the release of greenhouse gases and, or their precursors into the atmosphere over a specified area and period of time;

"financial year" means a period of twelve (12) months that starts to run from 1st January and ends on the 31st December of a particular year:

Provided that the first financial year of the Authority shall begin on the coming into force of this Act and shall end on the 31st December of the following year;

"greenhouse gases" means those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and re-emit infrared radiation, and shall include the gases inter alia, listed in the First Schedule;

"Member State" means a Member State of the European Union;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for climate action policy;

"mitigation" means human interventions to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by sources or enhance their removal from the atmosphere by sinks;

"National Climate Action Council (NCAC)" or "Council" mean the Council appointed in terms of article 25;

"National Energy and Climate Plan" means a 10-year national energy and climate plan (NECP) which outlines how the EU countries intend to meet the EU energy and climate targets for 2030;

"national adaptation strategy" means a strategy that seeks to address recommendations in various sectors which are vulnerable to climate change and is a plan which sets overarching direction for all work to increase resilience to the impacts of climate change.

"national long-term strategy" means the strategy to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions reductions required to meet Malta’s commitments under the multilateral legal instruments to which Malta is a party, EU objectives and national legal instruments;

"Paris Agreement" means the Paris Agreement which th entered into force on 4 November 2016;

"public officer" in relation to article 15, has the same meaning assigned to it by article 124 of the Constitution but shall not include a Judge or a Magistrate;

"reservoir" means a component of the climate system, other than the atmosphere, which has the capacity to store, accumulate or release greenhouse gases or precursors of greenhouse gases;

"sink" means any process, activity or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas or an aerosol from the atmosphere;

"source" means any process or activity which releases greenhouse gases, aerosols or precursors of greenhouse gases or aerosols into the atmosphere;

"Standing Committee" means the Standing Committee on the Environment, Climate Change and Development

Planning established under the Development Planning Act;

"Treaty" means the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

"Tribunal" means the Administrative Review Tribunal established by article 5 of the Administrative Justice Act;

"UNFCCC" means the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which entered into force on 21st March 1994;

"Union" and "European Union" shall have the same meaning as the definition "the European Union" in the

European Union Act.

"undertaking" means any person whether an individual, a body corporate or unincorporate or any other entity, pursuing an economic activity, and includes a group of undertakings.