The ESG would like to thank Gibtelecom for joining us in the recent 5G debate.

Full attendance during highly inclement weather, on a Friday evening, further confirmed the strong interest in this subject and we commend everyone who attended and enriched the evening. We are also very grateful to Owen Smith for the role he played as mediator/chair, which allowed the debate to move along covering both sides of the issue fairly.

Gibtelecom explained their position on how they roll out telecommunications services in Gibraltar today and how they envisage the use of 5G going forward.

ESG presented the other side of the story –about the speed in which this technology is being rolled out throughout the world, and concerns, widely shared, about the possible negative effects on human health of such relentless growth.

The debate saw 2 full hours of presentation, Q&A session and open floor and could easily have continued. It is expected that there will be further opportunities for this issue to be aired over the coming weeks.

Overall the ESG believes the evening achieved its objective when it first proposed such a public debate at a recent DPC meeting when Gibtelecom submitted 5G mast applications. We do not rule out any more public meetings in future.

What is clear is there is a real interest and thirst for clarity and information in Gibraltar about the technology that exists in our lives today; a technology that creates an ever more interesting, diverse and sophisticated world, but raises questions about the possible health impacts that must be explored fully.

Look out for more discussions coming along soon and we thank GBC for filming this lively and first ever 5G debate to take place on the Rock.

May the debate continue!

The ESG has voiced concerns, which have been shared by others, over the ever-increasing electro magnetic radiation pollution deriving from the gadgets we use and the masts that service these.

While acknowledging that the use of this technology is an inevitable aspect of our every day life, we continue to believe that careful use at a personal level, and the precautionary principle applied at an industrial level, should always be applied.

The group held separate meetings recently with the Chief Minister and Gibtelecom during 2019 to share concerns about 5G coming to Gibraltar. At the last DPC mtg Gibtelecom received approval to install 4 masts for testing and data collection purposes. The ESG believes it is now time for a public debate to be held to enable a full, free and informative discussion to take place.  A date has been set for the 24^th January at 7pm.

Please read following information:

1. The ESG and Gibtelecom have agreed it would be in the public interest to hold such a meeting together to ensure both sides of the story are covered in detail and invite people interested to register at email: 5Gdebate@gibtelecom.net

2. Registration by email will start as from 15^th January and not before. Due to venue restrictions, and to ensure a full exchange of views can take place, there will be a limit on numbers and the first 45 people to register will attend.

3. Should interest exceed capacity there has already been discussion of holding a second debate.

4. We are also asking those registering to please submit a question or comment you would like to see debated with your email.

5. Only those who have registered and received confirmation will be able to attend.

6. Debate will be held on the 24^th January at 7pm at the Lecture Room in the John Mackintosh Hall. (Friday). Duration; 1.5 to 2 hours max

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ESG Radio Newsletter November 28^th 2019

Hi there!

During the past few weeks, and, post elections, things have been normalising somewhat. We have followed proceedings very closely and with much interest. The ESG has published its List of Objectives to coincide with elections over many years and this proved very helpful when lobbying the parties. It also helped ensure that many of our issues were covered in the manifestos subsequently launched by them. If you visit our website at www.esg-gib.net  you will find details of our objectives as well as our press statements and transcripts of our radio broadcasts, both current and historic. You can also click here: http://www.esg-gib.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/LIST-OF-OBJECTIVES-September-2019_.pdf

We now enter a period of follow up with meetings with government and other parties and will be pressing for action in the areas we are most concerned about – these include climate change, traffic, pollution and more.

Last week the DPC, (the Development & Planning Commission), held a meeting with an agenda that included projects such as Amar Bakery and Rialto Cinema.  These were deferred – among the issues discussed though were two applications for 5G antennae.

Our ESG representative on the panel explained our position and concerns regarding the roll-out of 5G across the globe – and more specifically in Gibraltar, calling for more information to be made available to the public on the questions being asked by scientists, doctors and politicians about the safety of this technology. Gibtelecom Jansen Reyes agreed to participate in a public debate where a question and answer session can take place and a productive discussion can follow. Details of the 5G debate will be released soon  – hopefully this side of Christmas.

We can’t let you go without sharing some news on our flagship campaign Clean up the World. We are pleased to confirm that voluntary clean ups continue and we have been able to loan out equipment to a few teams keen on helping the environment.

Weather has proved a deterrent for our avid team hoping to revisit our ‘boat access only’ site at Seven Sisters to continue working there, but perhaps we will get a lucky break soon.

That’s it for now. The next DPC meeting, and last one of the year, will take place on the 12^th December.  For those who may be unaware you can find the agenda for that mtg online a week before the actual commission meeting. It is quite possible that a  number of large projects will be considered that day

As the year inexorably draws to a close we are of course reminded that Christmas is not far off. Please be thoughtful this year with your purchasing and waste – remember that the West is buckling under the weight of plastics we consume and dispose of, and Christmas is an especially bad time for this.

Thanks for listening – please get in contact if you would like any more information on our objectives – just drop us an email at esg@gibtelecom.net

With applications presented to DPC today for the proposed introduction of 5G in Gibraltar the ESG is once again calling for the Precautionary Principle to be followed until such time as exploratory testing results and safety reports held by Gibtelecom have been shared with the public.

The ESG frequently consulted with both industry and Government during the installation of 3 and 4G and believes that total transparency present at the time was positive and delivered best possible results for all sides.

“The announcement of 5G antennae applications for Gibraltar has come as a surprise. We have been expecting the release of information from industry and Government on safety reports and testing outcomes since the exposition held by Gibtelecom in the Piazza last summer,” said a spokesperson for the ESG.

Many countries throughout the world are adopting a precautionary approach on 5G, with scientists, medical professionals and politicians demanding safety first and the ESG believes Gibraltar should follow suit. “We are concerned that the telecommunication industry continues to apply dated safety standards on a technology that has grown and changed beyond all recognition and become so much a part of our lives.”

“The ESG is not opposed to progress or to being convinced of the safety of 5G. However we do seek assurances based on independent research and hope this will be forthcoming. Until such time we will remain opposed to its introduction in Gibraltar.”

ESG Radio Newsletter 24/10/19 

Key words: Local Elections / ESG List of Objectives / Party Portfolios / Coalition on Climate / Party responses in Manifestos / Government Green pledges / 25 Year Plan / Climate Action Plan

Well, it certainly has been an intense few weeks of discussion and debate during our local elections. We have been impressed with the way our environment has featured in all 3 manifestos, and for the positive reaction from all parties on receiving our very detailed List of Objectives.

Incidentally you can find our List on our website under Objectives 2019. – That’s on esg-gib.net. It goes into many areas of environmental impact on the Rock. We have published our objectives for circa 15 years and therefore have a long view of many of the key problem areas and where these are failing to improve and where progress has been made.

We resume our lobbying in earnest now as portfolios are defined and areas such as development & planning, transport, and the environment, assigned. These are key areas of concern we have studied for some time.

But lets take a moment to see where our deep concerns lie and what we take from the elections. A lot of energy, of the non-renewable kind!!, was expended,  and some of this went into acknowledging the biggest issue facing everyone today, that of climate change and need for change.

We joined with other groups earlier this year to form a coalition for action on climate change. This is a long held core objective of the ESG’s also and we therefore looked very keenly at what the parties were proposing in response to our call and the Coalition call for stronger cross party consensus on action required to reduce our overall carbon impacts in Gibraltar.

Generally speaking there have been solid reactions within manifestos to take up the challenge of changes needed to address climate change. We believe this is a highly urgent matter and will be following up with the newly elected Government and opposition parties to press for a timetable to roll out their stated commitment with meaningful actions. After all they have all publicly recognised the crisis and need for cross party consensus.

As Gibraltar continues to grow physically, so does our carbon quota and both are inseparable.

The Minister for the Environment last night committed publicly to start working on greening up Gibraltar. As well as delivering more green spaces, that we of course welcome, we hope that areas such as pollution prevention, environmental and public health issues, which are linked to construction, road and sea transport and industry, will also receive an early and strong focus for rapid action, as these affect us all on a daily basis.

The GSLP manifesto declared a whole raft of ideas on how to manage Gibraltar’s environment that we hope will be spelt out in the promised 25 year plan as well as the Climate Action Plan. The ESG will be following up on all these issues.

Visit esg-gib.net for more information.

As part of its major annual campaign, the ESG organised its 15^th CUTW action on the Rock with positive results for our environment. Gibraltar did it again, when over 400 volunteers in 26 teams of all ages took to our seafronts, green areas, underwater and cliff sites to pick out harmful waste from our natural environments. 25 separate areas were cleared. The day also saw support from specialist teams with abseiling, diving and boat access only sites tackled. Around 12 truck trips were required to remove piles collected by volunteers to a dedicated site for us to build up our mountain. Volunteers were also encouraged to separate waste into recyclable piles and others, and this worked efficiently on this occasion.

A few deliveries are still pending as special transport is needed so our ultimate pile will be larger.

The ESG recognises the value given to the day of action by the teams participating who are always very grateful to be giving something back to the environment.

The organisers wish to thank everyone who helped prepare and then launch the day of action. It is a very busy time in preparation for the day and without the CUTW team we wouldn’t be able to do this. Thanks also to our sponsors and a major thanks to all volunteers who did a great job on Saturday.

More info:-

As photographs and reports from the teams come in, we start putting together a picture of a community that is getting cleaner but continues to suffer from periodic dumping and littering in several areas. Post summer a lot of vegetation has burned away, exposing plastics, metals and rubble dumped inappropriately, often in sensitive habitats. Vehicle parts, furniture, contractor’s materials etc.  tipped the scales once again this year and volunteers worked really hard to remove these from their allocated areas.

Students of all ages took part and displayed great purpose in cleaning up the environment. A lot of plastic, large and small was removed, as were cigarette butts from various corners around Gibraltar. Known to be toxic to the environment these butts are nevertheless currently tolerated to be tossed anywhere and this must change and a dedicated campaign with enforcement enacted.

A full report on all findings will be presented again to the authorities.

27th September 2019

CUTW Gibraltar Action tomorrow

The ESG launches its 15th nationwide Clean up tomorrow. With
over 400 volunteers 30 sites will be tackled including green areas,
cliffs, underwater and coastal sites. Participation from all sectors of
the society shows strong community spirit and a real tangible
difference being made to environmental litter hotspots.

Despite hard work from cleaning agencies Gibraltar’s natural
environments continue to see too much waste and litter and this
years clean up will be raising such awareness once again.

CLEAN UP THE WORLD 2019 THIS WEEKEND!

ESG Radio Newsletter   26^th September 2019

We thought it really important to share with you our exciting plans for this years Clean up the World day of action taking place Saturday 28^th September.

With 26 teams of volunteers supported by a dozen other entities, Gibraltar is once again responding to the global call for communities everywhere to clean up and look after their environment. Teams will mainly concentrate in green, coastal and underwater sites and will focus on the removal of harmful and non biodegradable waste. Between 3-400 people have signed up and we are very grateful to them all for supporting this worthy cause.

Thanks also to our sponsors and most importantly our dedicated steering team for all the preparations leading up to this very busy day.

If you have signed up and not heard back from us please email us at esg@gibtelecom.net or call 200-48996 for details of where to go on Saturday.

Teams will be in action all over Gibraltar – please give them a cheer of support if you see them out and about – they really are doing their bit for our environment!!

A couple of other bits of news you may find of interest:

Last weeks Coalition led March for Climate Action raised the profile locally of the global campaign  on the hottest environmental topic facing humanity today. A petition was handed in to Government via the Minister for the Env of over 2,000.

Finally, the ESG has just published its 2019 Wish List or List of Objectives. We have published our objectives since the 2003 elections. You can find our current list on the home page of our website at: esg-gib.net. We shall be lobbying all parties on environmental issues, pressing them for progress and action, for example: on Climate Change, Traffic, Pollution and Energy, to name but a few. In fact there are 15 separate headings so we think its quite comprehensive!!

Thanks for listening!

ESG List of Objectives 2019 is published

26^th September 2019

The ESG has presented its List of Objectives, or Wish List, as has been its normal practice, before every election, since our first ever was produced in 2003.

The List is comprehensive and aims to include most if not all of Gibraltar’s environmental issues with recommendations on how these should be addressed.

The List has been sent to all three Environment candidates for each Political Party as of last weekend, in the hope that our concerns and interests will be addressed for action in policy documents.

Our List of Objectives 2019 can be found on our website, home page at:  www.esg-gib.net  .

Coalition for Climate Action – (CCA)

21^st September 2019

‘The Coalition for Climate Action yesterday delivered a Petition to Government calling for an independent body to manage Climate Change targets. Over 2,000 signatures were presented to the Minister for the Environment and Climate Change.

This took place after a lively and energised group of protesters took to Main Street to create noise about the climate change crisis in support of the millions carrying out similar actions throughout the world. Organisers wish to thank everyone who joined the March.

The coalition confirms it will continue to collect signatures and explore other civic actions until such time as decisions are taken regarding climate action and the body/committee charged with oversight of this all important issue is in place.’

Coalition is made up of 6 NGOs:-

Gibraltar Ornithological and natural History Society (GONHS), The Nautilus Project (TNP), Environmental Safety Group (ESG), Gibraltar Heritage Trust (GHT), Sustainable Gibraltar and Pollution Watch