The ESG welcomes the announcement of Transport now forming part of the Ministry for the Environments responsibilities. Transport in Gibraltar has long been an issue of concern to the group given the serious environmental and public health impacts from this activity. It believes air pollution and climate change factors, as laid out in Gibraltar’s Climate Strategy, underpins the need for urgent action in this area.

The ESG has published its wish list in many areas including Road Transport issues since 2003. Among our urgent objectives are:

– The need to launch and enforce the anti idling law, especially in vulnerable locations such as schools, all bus stops (Govt and Private), taxi ranks, coach parks and at popular tourist sites.

– The need to replace all second hand buses, which fail EU emission standards in place to protect public health, with clean alternatives.

– Thirdly we need to update our MOT emission standards, which permits vehicles  to pollute to their date of manufacture allowing emission of dangerous levels of pollutants. These are especially harmful to the young and the elderly.

On an ongoing basis there are several other issues we are concerned about regarding impacts from Transport that we will take up with the new Minister for Transport as soon as we are given a meeting date.

For those interested please search our website for our 2019 List of Objectives which carries a detailed look at our long-term issues.

The ESG has learnt of a quayside LNG bunkering transaction that recently took place in Gibraltar from an announcement on Facebook by the previous Minister of the Port. Subsequent enquiries with the Ministry for the Environment confirm that a cruise ship, the Silver Nova, did receive LNG bunker from a barge, at quayside, on her inaugural call to Gibraltar.

The ESG has publicly voiced its strong concerns in the past over the potential for growth of LNG activity at port side from the LNG Storage facility and sought information from the authorities on this announcement.

The group was provided with safety assessment reports commissioned by the Port produced some years ago for such transactions and licensing, as well as a separate detailed report for this specific vessel and date. It appears that a barge supplied the fuel but this needs further clarification.

While it’s clear that safety assessments were carried out this new step has not been processed before DPC, or, to our knowledge, had cross-departmental oversight. Industrial activities do not operate in a bubble and require all impacts concerning public health and the environment to be closely studied with the public informed.

The ESG understands that LNG reduces pollution and believes it has a role to play on the path towards fully renewable and sustainable shipping fuels.

The group strongly urges Government to review this new activity and ensure that full provision of information for intended LNG transactions of this nature go through public process and due protocols before any further transactions are carried out.