The ESG asks Government to inform the public about the outcome of the tests it recently ran on 2 of its buses using HVO fuel (hydrogenated vegetable oil). 

With the knowledge that this fuel will help reduce air pollution on our roads it’s hoped the rollout to all government and commercial vehicles will happen as soon as possible.The group hopes details of the testing can be shared as it’s clearly a matter of great public interest.
Additionally calls upon Calypso to confirm whether all 5 of its newer, low emission buses are now operational. Given the significant impact this can also have in our airspace it would be positive to have this also confirmed.

The ESG is pleased to read in the Gibraltar Chronicle about the electric bus currently being trialled. The article identifies as being 1 of 2 being trialled and the ESG is excited at the thought of this important step coming from the Ministry of Transport. We will be requesting more information from the Ministry as to whether the other bus being trialled is from the same supplier, and also, bearing in mind that these units are electric, if they are looking at particular routes. The photograph in the article shows quite a compact vehicle , so ideal for our Upper Town route. 

The ESG hopes the trials have a successful conclusion leading to the introduction of electric buses by the Gibraltar Bus Company and, as with the HVO trials, that information on all results are made public.

The ESG asks Government to inform the public about the outcome of the tests it recently ran on 2 of its buses using HVO fuel (hydrogenated vegetable oil). 

With the knowledge that this fuel will help reduce air pollution on our roads it’s hoped the rollout to all government and commercial vehicles will happen as soon as possible. The group hopes details of the testing can be shared as it’s clearly a matter of great public interest.

The ESG additionally calls upon Calypso to confirm whether all 5 of its newer, low emission buses are now operational. Given the significant impact this can also have in our airspace it would be positive to have this also confirmed.

The ESG shares the community’s concerns regarding the sudden and totally unexpected pollution tax on 10yr old cars (regardless of emissions and type) announced by the Chief Minister yesterday. A lot has been said, the measure was reversed, but the situation understandably remains uncertain.

As with the Linewall Road closure, the ESG, campaigning for a healthier environment, at the time did not totally reject the idea behind the sudden decision of road closure to cars, but felt it needed far greater planning and delivered on a cross party basis. 

Any measure to clean up our environment specifically from transport has been high on our agenda for years. This goes for road and marine transport. Our legally binding Climate Change Strategy contains targets for this purpose. We believe the community needs to get behind the changes we need to make (once fully discussed and analysed, ideally via a public parliamentary select committee with input from experts and interested parties) to achieve a healthier environment. Decisions should, in our view, be made here and not announced via an annual budget.

The strategy is a living document and should be updated to reflect impacts as understood from ongoing data gathering and changes going forward. Our major turnover on fossil fuel sales results in a very large carbon footprint but also leads to raised levels of pollution locally, calling for the divestment of oil as an income stream in the longer term.

The ESG have over the years pushed for urgent action to be taken on ageing vehicle fleets, especially in the commercial and industrial sectors where impacts are greatest. Our second hand bus fleet has been a major concern for us as we continue to lobby for these to be replaced. We have pushed for best practice to be applied, through incentives, penalties and the setting up of appropriate economic support. These, surely should be priority for action.

We want to see roadside pollution disappear. We want to see marine vessels clean up their activity. This will involve focus and analysis and we believe looking at emissions and fuel use would be a better place to start in cutting back on poisons in our environment.

However, some law changes are also imperative, for example, we have a law on emissions today which permits vehicles to pollute to their year of manufacture. This is totally at odds with the effort to clean up our environment and certainly conflicts with a tax payable allowing such cars to be driven. This must change! Emissions should be regulated on safety levels alone which probably means resourcing the MOT centre to roll out a more stringent and reliable role. 

However, while we have and wish to continue to have, an open border policy we have no means to control the entry of illegally polluting motorised vehicles. This means that as we work to push up stds on our performances, we remain  vulnerable to imported pollution too. This needs to be examined at a European level.

The possibility of a larger and more active airport means rising air pollution from there too,  another transport impact.

Finally, and unfortunately as is often the case in our homeland, we face the prospect of yet another Treaty where questions loom also for our environment and how this could be further threatened or actively improved in the outcome, but we don’t yet know and this creates concerns and anxiety.

The ESG hopes we will forge a way through and see community support in measures taken to improve our health and our precious environment, while reducing our impacts on the wider Climate, but there will be many challenges ahead.

Ends..//

“The ESG has publicly campaigned and directly lobbied for the urgent update of the current Development Plan, which the group believes has not been fit for purpose for some years now. We welcome this important step.

There are many issues which affect planning not least geopolitics, economics, and the wider environment including sustainability and climate change. The last few decades have witnessed major and multiple, transformational development in Gibraltar which has highlighted the need to rapidly review, control and plan holistically, inclusively, while also respecting existing developments and residential areas. This does not happen sufficiently today.

“In our view the next development plan can therefore not come forward too soon and we hope every effort will be made to keep the drafting and consultation period as  efficient as possible”, says a spokesperson.

“While a  lot of Gibraltar’s spaces have already been filled with more also earmarked for development, this should not stop us, as a community, from demanding a planning system we feel better represents the Gibraltar we want to see and live in. This means greater controls in developed zones to protect people’s quality of life and see new developments enhance rather than obliterate or significantly reduce their standard of living. It also means we should already have in place environmental legislation to ensure that all new build follows highest practices to include greatest ability to be sustainable..in practice, as well as during the construction period.

The ESG believes it’s essential also to protect Gibraltar’s natural beauty and vistas which sets us apart from other nations and attracts visitors. This important element in planning should also be included in the new plan as well as safeguarding our green spaces.

The ESG hopes that a new development plan will also include the many sensible and forward looking recommendations made by a number of key contributors at the Aspire Conference held in Gibraltar recently on quality community development. These would guide architects and developers from the start of any project and take responsibility for the Gibraltar we want to live in rather than place that instead onto the ‘greener developer’. 
We hope the consultation period  will enable meaningful public feedback because we understand that our population will grow, and we all want to house our families here and this means a short, medium to longterm plan is essential.

https://www.europasur.es/campo-de-gibraltar/alga-invasora-asiatica-Estrecho-adaptacion_0_1891011757.html

CIENCIA   Lunes, 5^th April 2024

La flora marina del Estrecho comienza a adaptarse al alga invasora asiática

• Es una de las conclusiones del Estudio sobre la ‘Rugulopteryx okamurae’ realizado por la Universidad de Sevilla y el patrocinio de la Fundación Cepsa
• El trabajo abre nuevas líneas de investigación como su uso para fertilizantes, biometano y productos farmacológicos 
• Algeciras y La Línea retiran casi 20 toneladas de alga asiática de las playas de Getares y Poniente

La flora autóctona del Estrecho de Gibraltar comienza a adaptarse a la presencia de la alga invasora Rugulopteryx okamurae en la Bahía de Algeciras. Es una de las conclusiones del amplio estudio sobre esta especie realizado por la Universidad de Sevilla con el patrocinio de la Fundación Cepsa que han sido presentadas este viernes por el científico José Carlos García en la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Algeciras.

El catedrático de La Línea José Carlos García ha incidido en que se está apreciando como el ecosistema local está empezando a regular, creando microorganismos que viven ya sobre la propia alga, colocándose encima.

El catedrático inició su presentación aludiendo a que las conclusiones del estudio, que ha durado cinco años, son “difíciles de digerir” porque no hay precedente de ninguna invasión de algas en el mundo de este nivel, con un proceso reproductivo que la hace intratable, “por lo que la única esperanza es que el ecosistema local la ponga en su sitio como ha pasado con otras especies invasoras en otras partes del mundo”.

García ha asegurado que el daño ecológico -desde 2015 que es cuando se detectó por primera vez- ha sido “estratosférico“. Se trata de una especie competitiva de primer orden con una gran capacidad de adaptación a una zona que no es suya y que además está cargada de sustancias químicas que la hacen prácticamente incomestible para la fauna.

La investigación, que se ha realizado en prácticamente toda la Bahía de Algeciras, estudiando tanto la superficie como debajo del agua, ha abierto otras líneas de trabajo en un ámbito más positivo para aprovechar estas algas. Se trata de la realización de fertilizantes de calidad en los que trabaja la Universidad de Sevilla en colaboración con la Universidad de Extremadura; la creación de biometano y productos farmacológicos y de parafarmacia, donde ha empezado a trabajar la Facultad de Farmacia de la Universidad de Sevilla.

García ha añadido que la arribazón que sale a la playa es el principal problema al que tienen que enfrentarse los ayuntamientos, limpiando las playas, muchas veces llevándose la arena con las palas, pero apuntó que el impacto real está debajo del agua dónde se ve que “se lo ha llevado todo por delante”.

El estudio informa de las diferentes vertientes de entrada de la alga asiática en el Estrecho. El científico insiste en que los plásticos han tenido mucho que ver en su expansión. La especie invasora se coloca sobre este material flotante y se hunden ayudando a su dispersión. Asegura que el agua de lastre ha sido uno de las entradas pero no la más importante, el transporte de mercancías y la descontrol de la acuicultura -crianza de especies acuáticas vegetales y animales-, han tenido mucho que ver, según García. “En el Mediterráneo oriental, la entrada del alga que ya se está viendo en Marsella y otros puntos ha sido por la acuicultura”, apunta García.

El biofuling, incrustaciones de micoorganismos en los cascos de los barcos, es otra de las vías de entrada importante a través de las embarcaciones de recreo que permanecen años atracadas en puertos. 

En cuanto a la dispersión de la Rugulopteryx okamurae, la investigación concluye que se adapta también a la zona umbría y se sitúa en las rocas. “Con las cámaras instaladas hemos visto como rodean a las algas locales y le quitan el sitio”, asegura García. “Ha cambiado el ecosistema pero hay algunos aspectos positivos. Los peces se están comiendo los crustáceos que ya viven sobre las algas”, concluye el científico.

‘Climate Change is in the spotlight with COP28 currently underway in Dubai. Amidst controversies surrounding this oil-producing nation hosting such an event, there is regardless intense discussion and pressure for the necessary actions to be taken urgently. The Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, Dr. John Cortes, is present at this conference and we hope it will also translate into action taken in Gibraltar. 

We have yet to see a date announced for the long-awaited first sitting of the Cross Party Parliamentary Select Committee on Climate Change, to be held before the end of the year as promised by Chief Minister Fabian Picardo during the last elections and reiterated at a recent parliamentary session.

“We hope to hear from the Minister of his plans at such a meeting, following his attendance at COP28,” said a spokesperson.’

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.