The ESG urges Government to give a public assurance that plans for action on Climate Change remain high on its agenda.

With summer fast approaching the group is eager to see its Climate Action Plans, to address the Climate Emergency, presented to Parliament prior to the summer recess.

This would provide time for debate, consideration and accord, before the Glasgow summit, COP26, in the fall.

Fresh Oil Spill Unacceptable

The ESG was yesterday alerted to yet another oil slick off our coastline, which was later traced to have landed at three of our beaches including Rosia, Camp and Little Bay.

The thick black sludge was present in worrying levels at Rosia Bay and reports were made with the Department of the Environment responding promptly to establish immediate clean up operations with the help from Brightside.

This oil spill could have originated elsewhere and is the subject of yet another investigation following the spill seen within our harbour waters over the weekend.

Large or small these spills are becoming all too frequent and are damaging our natural environment and are unacceptable. The Port is called upon to fully apply its resources to ensure standards are being followed and identify and fine polluters.

The ESG thanks all those who responded late last night to begin clean up operations that continue today.

Keywords: ESG Meetings/ Sandy Bay Development / EMF Monitors/ Trading between Gib and UK / Upper Rock and Traffic access / Cycling event

As situation Covid continues fairly quietly now, life is beginning to get busy for everyone. So too is our environment and the ESG is also busy following up on the many issues contained in our Objectives, which can be found on our website at: esg-gib.net.  Meetings with Government and Industry continue as we lobby for action in several areas such as Climate Change, Sewage and LNG, the next Development Plan, Shore power, etc. You can find our list of issues and recommendations on the website too.

Most recently we joined 2 other key local NGOs: Gibraltar Heritage Trust and the GONHS in releasing a joint press statement over what we consider an unacceptable development proposal for Sandy Bay. Please visit all 3 NGO websites for the press release.

Some of you may have read or heard about the setting up of new monitoring units which look at electromagnetic fields produced by the mobile masts dotted around Gibraltar. As these continue to grow our group has pressed for the stepping up of monitoring of the impact this could be having in our physical spaces. You can check for yourself the data gathered by these machines which is published online on the GRA website, or Portal as it is called. The issue here is that the GRA follow ICNIRP standards which we do not think recognise other possible harmful effects, as yet fully understood, by saturating environments with this growing technology. We therefore call for the stepping up of monitoring resources and will also be checking data collected ourselves through the Portal.

One very interesting development was an article in the local media referring to a UK Govt report carrying information on how the UK trades with Gibraltar. You can find this link on line by searching for Gibraltar Trade and Investment Factsheet dated 12^th Feb 2021. Breaking down various areas of economic activity, though not all info is available, it’s an enlightening document showing where focus for greater sustainability could be given.

As you may well be aware the ESG takes a keen interest in all things to do with our traffic and transport issues on the Rock. After the U turn on Linewall Road, which we consider to be a shame and lost opportunity, another issue came up recently with the access to the Upper Rock by local vehicles. It is a complex subject, which also divides public opinion. We think that controlled access by all is ultimately what is required via a holistic visitor plan. We are working on this as a group and are lobbying for partial access for everyone – walkers, cyclists, drivers, visitors and tourist traffic in a controlled and managed approach that will enhance the experience and protect our wildlife from what can become a terribly overrun situation from mainly mass tourism traffic, once this returns.

Congratulations to the Cycle lobby on the Rock for a successful event on Good Friday which saw a healthy turn-out of local cyclists and cycling families demonstrate that interest in cycling is alive and kicking in Gibraltar while highlighting the need for safer roads and reduction of traffic.

Thanks for listening!!!

The ESG welcomes the recent rollout of the new Electromagnetic Field monitors (EMF) and online Portal in Gibraltar by the GRA. 

The group has been calling for such monitoring for many years and their arrival is therefore heralded as good news.

Nevertheless as one can easily observe when going onsite the GRA are applying ICNIRP levels to establish safety and compliance. The ESG has to clarify that it follows recommendations based on much lower exposure levels related to a-thermal/biological effects following a worldwide appeal of January 14, 2021, signed by 255 EMF scientists from 44 nations and 15 Supporting Scientists from 11 nations. They are urgently calling upon the United Nations and its sub-organisations, the WHO and UNEP, and all U.N. Member States, for greater health protection on EMF exposure:   https://emfscientist.org/

“We will continue to press for the expansion of the monitoring system and will carefully observe data collected from the new monitors going forward”, said a spokesperson for the group.

The Gibraltar Heritage Trust (GHT), Environmental Safety Group (ESG) and Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society (GONHS) note plans to develop housing along the slope to the south of Both Worlds.  

Since it was replenished with sand, Sandy Bay has become a very popular beach both for locals and as part of Gibraltar’s more adventure-focused tourism offering.  Part of its appeal lies in its location and quite natural setting, framed by the slopes and Rock above, and the rocky shoreline to its north and south.  The land that is targeted for development currently consists of open, flower-filled habitat and includes WWII military structures.  It is enjoyed not just by beach-goers but also by the many people who walk by whilst exercising.

Our organisations are concerned that as depicted, the development would result in a very significant loss of public amenity, including for beach users.  The buildings would encroach on the beach itself and we consider this completely unacceptable.  The ramp down to the beach would be used for vehicular access to the development, making access trickier for users.  The loss of any natural habitat or heritage structures will without a doubt be detrimental to the enjoyment of the area by the public.

The three organisations will be following this proposal very closely.  Although the public consultation period for comments to the Development & Planning Commission is now closed, we urge all concerned members of the public to make their views known to the Town Planner or our organisations.

Keywords: Earth Hour / Litter / Climate Change Strategy / Energy / Traffic & Idling / Cycling

Earth Hour will be taking place this Saturday the 27^th March. Each year communities are invited to switch off their lights for an hour from 8.30pm local time and w have encouraged Gibraltar to participate in this awareness campaign for many years. Of course, it’s not about switching off, is it, its about reviewing your lifestyle, the impact you and your family have on the planet and how you can improve this too. Importantly though governments and businesses are also reminded of the global challenges from resource depletion to climate change and need for real action.

So this Saturday – do your bit and encourage others to also participate in the switch off and any other project running that helps the environment.

A quick one on litter – with the better weather upon us, more people are enjoying the beaches but sadly a few refuse to use bins provided and leave all their garbage behind. This calls for more policing and deterrents-   how else will litterers understand that such behaviour is just not acceptable! It is dirty, an eyesore, degrades the amenity for others, and threatens the natural environment too. So please, use the bins, or take it home – it’s not cool to litter. We shall be pressing for action under our CUTW Campaign.

We again call upon Government to please release their Climate Change Strategy  – a roadmap to a cleaner and healthier environment as well as tackling our carbon impacts in all areas – We hope this will include shipping and bunkering responsible for the largest share of carbon emissions in Gibraltar by far. We understand this was to be published at the end of March.

Green energy is a major issue for global warming and Gibraltar is not exempt from the pressure to replace fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy. It is positive to see the rollout of solar capture throughout many parts of our community and the ESG hopes plans for further expansion will follow asap. Shore power for local businesses and visiting vessels has been announced but not yet in place. This would enable vessels to switch off at berth and connect to our electricity grid – it would cut down on noise and air pollution so we hope this will be prioritised as we continue to build housing estates ever closer to the port area.

A report has been circulating in social media over intolerable levels of noise produced at the Morrison’s Car park recently with running engines for refrigerated trailers. Should this repeat best advice is to report directly to the Environmental Agency charged with responsibility to tackle noise disturbance and nuisance to follow up and eliminate this problem. Call 200-70620 and email: admin@eag.gi .

Traffic and idling is a real bugbear for us. We would also like to see greater effort in reducing unnecessary vehicle use to allow more space and cleaner air for walking and cycling. Combined with the eventual departure of polluting 2 stroke bikes, second hand buses, out-dated commercial and construction vehicles off our streets and early introduction of green transport using clean fuels, we could really see major changes in air quality and our physical environment in beautiful Gibraltar.

Back to cycling we wanted to highlight and support an upcoming Cycle Awareness event taking place on Good Friday 2^nd April. Details of the event led by the OTWO Magazine and Ebike can be found on Facebook and in the general media, as well as links on our website.

For more visit website: www.esg-gib.net

Thanks for listening.

Keywords: Oil Spill / Climate Change and Public Debates

ESG Radio Newsletter 11^th March 2021  – With Spring now apparent, signs are with us that the grip of the Covid virus is thankfully diminishing. Thanks to those giving their all in helping make this happen.

On the environmental front things have certainly built up. The recent oil spill was a sharp interlude in Covid headlines as Gibraltar’s coastline began to see evidence of a bunkering transaction that had gone wrong, albeit for a few minutes, with supposedly a few tons spilt. Sounds more serious than litres, doesn’t it? Oil is a very toxic substance to the natural environment and the authorities, agencies and NGOs maintained a very close eye on the spill and clean up proceedings made harder by the nature of our artificial coastline that was mostly affected within the harbour.

Back in October 2008 the ESG were involved in the follow up to the larger FEDRA oil spill. Then, 170 tons of the ships own running fuel, leaked into our beautiful waters after it had slammed repeatedly into Europa Point cliffs during a major storm. That oil spill took around 3 months to clean up, several million pounds worth of costs and saw the start of a major technological and resource overhaul of the Port Authority and its operations.

This serious upgrade in our Port management stds has clearly brought about a safer overall environment from the shipping activity in our port. Nevertheless, the spill happened and its smelly and sticky presence now all but removed from our shores, although the clean up continues. We welcome the fines and cost recovery for the clean up operation but think it’s also critical to understand what took place in the immediate aftermath of the spill. What oversight was in place by both the client and supplier vessel and what emergency protocols were applied? Press reports suggest a time lag, which has not yet been fully explained. During this time the oil moved about and hit land at various points. We would like to see the results of the full investigation into the spill and the emergency response to better understand what transpired and whether lessons will have been learnt.

According to marine experts less visible impacts from this spill will continue to impact negatively on our marine environment for some time to come and believe all efforts must be made to eliminate future threats. 

Climate Change is once again making headlines with major climate conferences round the corner. The ESG recently issued a press release calling upon our Government to set out its own clear strategy on reducing our Carbon activity. We understand the major toll from Covid on all resources but believe Climate Change is a far larger threat, on which targeted action cannot be postponed any longer. We would also like to see public debate and support on this major issue to ensure that economic recovery from Covid works hand in hand with a green agenda, led by Government policy, and supported at cross party level. Once Covid allows for larger gatherings the ESG looks forward to resuming our own public debates on these issues. Visit esg-gib.net for more on other issues, press releases etc. Thanks for listening.

You can catch up and or engage on issues to do with mobile masts emissions and more.

Please visit: https://www.facebook.com/MobilePhoneMastConcernGibraltar

The ESG welcomes the message that the Minister for the Environment, Dr John Cortes, gave during a recent virtual meeting, a precursor to the COP26-the Climate Change Summit, which will take place on 1^st November of this year. Dr Cortes, representing the British Overseas Territories, warned that the restoration of the global economy should not take priority over the climate crisis and biodiversity. 

The ESG recognises that the Covid pandemic has had a disastrous effect on the world economy, which needs to be redressed, but it is also very aware that the full blown consequences of climate change would be immeasurably worse than those caused by the pandemic.

The Climate Emergency declaration in Gibraltar included a commitment to report to Parliament by the end of 2019, with a climate emergency action plan. Now that things seem to be returning to some normality, we need to reset climate action as a priority. The Climate Change Act requires the establishment of a climate change committee; we need to see the emissions reduction targets for 2030 and 2045, as well as progress targets for each 4 year period.

Whilst the ESG understands that the covid pandemic has upended all previous plans, we would welcome an update on these matters and a renewed commitment from Government that it intends to honour these obligations and ensure that Gibraltar’s economic recovery is environmentally sustainable.