The ESG thanks all those who took part in this years ‘Clean up the World’ action over the weekend. This 16^th major clean up comes at a difficult time due to Covid, so a very special well done to the 200 volunteers involved.

18 teams worked hard at 14 sites on Saturday removing harmful waste from our environment. Underwater, coastal, open water, green, communal and revetment hotspots were tackled and saw 12 truckloads of waste head to the dedicated waste tips.

While Gibraltar continues to see improvement in overall cleanliness, petty littering and fly tipping continues to take place and highlights a need for an ongoing review of what must be done to reduce if not eliminate this hazard to our natural environment.

Reports will be filed with information gathered by our teams highlighting the current state at specific areas and the ESG will follow up with relevant authorities and the Litter Committee.

Clean up organisers add that the community spirit displayed during our Clean Ups gives hope that we will get there, but that we must continue to work hard to achieve the cleanest possible Gibraltar we can.

Extra:

-New to Campaign was Dept of Env Drone that captured action at Rosia and Seven Sisters

-Same day lift off of waste at Seven Sisters

-Large turn out of divers – 3 clubs and large representation of Dept of Env Marine Team

-Waste went to different sites so usual single mountain was not achieved, instead we have a number of piles

Special assistance –

Rosia Bay – Led by Dept of Env and GSAC, with DOE Marine and Drone teams, Dive Charters and Diving with Nic

Seven Sisters – Britannia Abseilers and Crane team, Royal Navy Diver Boat access

Support– Britannia, Wildlife Gibraltar, Monteverde site team, Eco Park

ESG CUTW Steering team

Thanks to all teams:

University of Gibraltar,  Rotary Club International,  Laguna & Glacis Youth Clubs,  Europa Walks, GSAC, Dive Charters, Diving with Nic, Dept of Environment Marine and Drone Team, Ofs&Youfra, MH Bland, Trusted Novus, The Nautilus Project, OTWO Mixed team, B Company, Bruzon Team, Britannia, ESG, Helmut Team

This year the ESG has had to keep all publicity and arrangements for the Clean up to a minimum following Covid and Public Health guidelines.

This years poster has therefore been modified to promote awareness about litter and NOT call for volunteers. Our 18 teams (out of our usual 30 teams) were made up from longterm participants. We are so very grateful to all for stepping up to the task of ensuring our natural environment once again benefits from the great community and voluntary clean up effort.

The ESG is very disappointed by the fact that the proposed project for the new elderly care home on Bishop Caruana Road has been passed by the DPC. Although the ESG recognises the need for this kind of provision for the elderly, it does not consider that the proposed building is the best solution.

It considers the project is totally unacceptable for a range of reasons. To begin with the height of the building will significantly diminish the access to light of those other elderly residents living in Bishop Canilla House. This, in our view, must be reviewed.

The ESG expressed a number of concerns at the DPC meeting itself centering on design, need for holistic plan of entire site, and landscaping at ground floor which is a requirement for all developments under the current development plan.

Described as a sustainable project the ESG would like to see how this has been evaluated from the sourcing of materials to transporting of these and a full account of how it will meet highest energy rating, an objective the Gibraltar Government is now seeking from all developments.

We currently have a project that seeks to create a green environment on top of a very tall building in a wind prone location that will also limit space for solar panels, which are envisaged to form part of the plan and its sustainability compliance.

The ESG holds it own views about trading with China but is focusing only on the environmental aspects here. It believes better designs exist, sourced from countries with a better environmental record than China, without such large transport costs involved, to deliver a more suitable and sustainable facility for our elderly.

It believes this project is being rushed and that more questions need to be answered. It will be calling on Government to review this development.

ESG Radio Broadcast 3^rd September 2020

Good day to all. It’s been some time since our last broadcast.

With cooler weather has come greater activity and despite Covid concerns, an air of hopefully greater optimism that together we can eventually overcome the worst of the difficulties and health threats posed by the Covid virus.

On our side we continue to monitor and engage in local, regional and international environmental news and developments despite these being somewhat eclipsed by the Covid headlines. Only this week we were privileged to enjoy a full hour of our worlds unimaginably beautiful nature and her inhabitants, with who else but Sir David Attenborough, as always, leading us to enjoy, respect and wonder at life away from the human species. A reminder of why we need to change and improve our behaviour to ensure we live with other species and not in place of them.

So we look at what we can do here, in Gibraltar, and how we can play our part. This year the global Clean up the World is taking place on the 19^th September. This will be our 16^th Gibraltar wide clean up. We must emphasise that although plans are underway to ensure some action takes place on the day to help our natural environment and raise awareness within our community, updates will be released in the press and volunteers informed directly, closer to the date,  as to how exactly the Clean up can happen following directives issued by Gibraltar’s Contingency team. Our regular teams are starting to sign up already which is great. If you have taken part before and would like to help, please email esg@gibtelecom.net – and we shall keep you posted.

A few bits of information which may interest you: The Dept. of Env has published a Marine Paper calling for feedback – although the deadline is tomorrow, the 4^th Sept, it is nevertheless a very comprehensive and well researched document with analysis and information on our marine environment and more. You can find the link at: https://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/environment/marine-strategy . The ESG has supplied the Department with our feedback and concerns regarding waste and litter handling, sewage, shipping, small craft impacts, fishing, and impacts from the large chemical complex in the Campo area.

Tomorrow morning sees an online meeting of the DPC (Development and Planning Commission) – with a number of large projects coming up and a plethora of smaller items. You can follow the meeting live online by going to Town Planning Gibraltar, click on Development and Planning Commission meetings and the link will appear there.

We are mindful of the wider issues surrounding the continuous construction on the Rock regarding facilities, infrastructure, need for new Plan, climate change, etc. and those of you interested in our long-term objectives could visit esg-gib.net for more information on these. Thanks for liste