The ESG announces a second public meeting for next Thursday 20th June at 7.30pm at the Charles Hunt Room, John Mackintosh Hall. 

Marches, Government Pledges and Petitions on Climate issues continue and the ESG believes citizen debate is needed to exchange ideas and discuss the challenges facing Gibraltar in its journey towards achieving a healthier and more sustainable environment.

The public is encouraged to share concerns and ideas on key areas which make up Gibraltar’s Carbon Footprint.

A number of NGOs will be represented who will lend different perspectives to this highly important debate.

Meeting will open at 7.30pm.

The ESG has been witnessing the rise of 5G technology in the international public media with growing concern. While the UK Government has dismissed a close to 20,000 strong petition urging Parliament to consider the potential health and ecological impacts of this new phase technology, there are other countries announcing bans on its introduction on these same concerns. Officials from three European countries, as well as a USA State, have called for bans and further research to better understand the fears linked to 5G, and its impact on the natural world and on public health.

The ESG calls on Gibraltar to join Poland, Switzerland, Brussels and Louisiana, in adopting a similar halt of the 5G rollout until further and robust proof of its safety is attained from preferably a non-industry source.

Public statements:

Brussels Becomes First Major City to Halt 5G Due to Health Effects

The statement was made by Céline Fremault, the Minister of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, responsible for Housing, Quality of Life, Environment and Energy. From an interview last Friday, with L’Echo:

“I cannot welcome such technology if the radiation standards, which must protect the citizen, are not respected, 5G or not. The people of Brussels are not guinea pigs whose health I can sell at a profit. We cannot leave anything to doubt.”

– Céline Fremault, Minister of the Government (Brussels-Captial Region), responsible for Housing, Quality of Life, Environment and Energy

Switzerland
This week the canton of Vaud announced it would temporarily freeze permits to install new 5G transmitters. The resolution calls for a ban on 5G transmitter installation at least until the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has finished its study into the effects of the new technology.

Poland
In what is surely an unprecedented and  groundbreaking action, the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, has personally backed an International Appeal to stop the controversial roll-out of 5G electromagnetic microwave telecommunication transmissions.

In Poland, the public are being used as guinea pigs in a 5G experiment to test the efficacy of the technology. The following cities are being used in the trial: Warsaw, Lodz, Gliwice.

Louisiana Becomes First State To Call For A Study On Health Impacts Of 5G

On May 29, the Louisiana House unanimously voted to have the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Health study the effects of 5G technology on the environment and public health. The Louisiana legislature passed House Resolution 145 with a vote of 103 in favor and zero representatives voting against the measure. The bill calls for the results of the study to be submitted to the Louisiana House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment as well as the House Committee on Health and Welfare no later than sixty days prior to the start of the 2020 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature.

Please Note; this has nothing to do with Huawey business competition, but the uncertainty of 5G to public health.

“The ESG has noted the sudden build up of seagull droppings on the solar panels on New Harbours Roof, an area whose inherently flat nature has

always been a resting place for the birds prior to the installation of the panels. With the real potential this has of reducing solar capture, and of damaging the

infrastructure, the group would like to know what systems have been put in place by the company to manage this situation during the dry season and

seagull breeding time.

Other areas in Gibraltar have benefitted from the use of falcon kites and perhaps this and other deterrents could be looked at? “

ESG Radio Newsletter June 6^th 2019

Keywords: World Environment Day / Air Quality / Clean up Campaign / World Ocean Day / Climate Joint Petition / Next Public Meeting

Hi, it’s the day after World Environment Day where many of us were busy highlighting environmental issues at Commonwealth Park.

Apart from sharing awareness and information the growing presence of NGOs and individuals dedicating time and effort towards a better environment was clear to see.

Of course the theme this year, is Air Quality, an issue very close to our heart and our displays and activity related directly to our concerns of air pollution in Gibraltar, their sources, and relation to climate change. We engaged multiple groups of children to interact with our giant footprints with a task to select different types of activity tiles such as travel, economy, energy, etc. and place these on a bad larger black footprint, or smaller and more environmental green one. The children responded well to the task and with enthusiasm.

It gave an insight on the areas we need to improve in as a community and we were struck by the questions and comments we received from some individuals despite their age. We hope to repeat these awareness-raising activities during other events or at our Clean up Campaign in September.

We also collected signatures for a petition being run by the ESG, Nautilus, GONHS, Pollution Watch and Sustainable Gibraltar calling for cross party support for an independent climate body funded to roll out a legally binding and timed agenda for action on climate change and in support of the Gibraltar Governments Climate Emergency Pledge. The NGOs will soon launch the online version and will be holding street collection of signatures to be announced.

We now look ahead to World Ocean Day where different associations will be taking on the challenges of cleaning our shoreline and underwater sites. The Department of Environment will be leading at Rosia Bay and is calling for volunteers to help. Other clean ups are planned and the ESG is very happy to be supporting in terms of provision of equipment and time.

With elections looming the ESG is putting together our concerns with a view to call for measures to be included in the next budget and will also be holding meetings with all political parties to discuss our objectives. With this and more public meetings planned to maintain a citizen focus on climate change it certainly looks like a busy time ahead. Next public mtg is scheduled for the 20^th June – more information on this soon.

A reminder that volunteers for September’s CUTW can sign up by emailing esg@gibtelecom.net.

Thanks for listening.

Since the announcement of a Global ‘Parents’ for Future” Climate strike was made the ESG and The Nautilus Project have met up to discuss the coordination of a supporting action here in Gibraltar. They have issued the following joint statement:

The ESG and The Nautilus Project will be coordinating a Climate Change Strike on the 20^th September 2019, in support of the global protest “Parents For Future”. The strike will add Gibraltar’s participation to the worldwide initiative, which currently has 34 groups from 16 countries across 4 continents.

Organisers are presently talking to other NGOs and groups to galvanise support for the 20^th September Strike. Details for the march will be published shortly. This action is additional to the important marches held so far by students under the “#GIBSCHOOLSTRIKE4CLIMATE” banner.

A petition will soon be launched which will be presented to Government at the end of the march detailing issues which need to be urgently tackled, if the Climate Emergency Pledge is to be honoured.

The petition will be run online as well as via a number of signature gathering days over the summer and volunteers for this will be very welcome.

The ESG and The Nautilus Project believe it is time for everyone to participate in the biggest challenge facing humanity today and calls for public support.

Both NGOs will support all other peaceful protests held locally calling for action on climate change.

As Clean up the World organisers, the ESG wish to lend its voice to an issue that has been occurring at one of our local beaches, Sandy Bay, for the past few weekends. Large groups of young people have been heading for this great beach in the hotter weather and clearly enjoying what is the start of the summer season.

While some are witnessed as being conscientious about their plastic and carton waste, for a large number, it is all left on the beach where the groups have been lying. Not only does this make for an eyesore for the rest of the beach goers, it becomes a major threat to wildlife – an issue that has been widely and clearly documented.

The ESG has been in touch with Schools, College and Agencies and is grateful for the quick and positive responses from all to help improve the situation.

We hope that as a community we can all pull together and discourage such behaviour and preserve our open spaces to be enjoyed while at the same time, respecting our environment.

CUTW- a community wide campaign running now in its 15^th year – will take place on the 21^st September. There is clearly still work to be done!

“It may not be cool to care about litter …… but it sure is cool to care about wildlife!”  ESG

The ESG has been following the recent rolling out of renewable energy projects for Gibraltar with keen interest and hopes this activity will be sustained as we aim to reduce carbon impacts overall.

Additionally the ESG is also relieved that the Nuffield Pool site is being retained for local residents and that the historic plans mooted for a large hotel in the area been dropped. This area is incredibly special to the local community and is an escape for many for healthy and open-air related activity and relaxation.

It is also an important natural environment with stunning cliffs and landscape and so we strongly support the retaining of the Nuffield site and the open plan nature of future use as has been announced.

ESG AND CLIMATE CHANGE PETITION
21st May 2019

The ESG recently held a public meeting to debate the issue of climate change and Gibraltar’s role within it. Key environmental concerns on pollution and its various sources and relation to climate change were discussed and a presentation was given by the ESG on the group’s historic and current work.

The group will once again be supporting the 2nd youth protest for action on climate change this Friday and, as agreed at its public meeting, will be collecting signatures on the day for a Petition to all parties in parliament.

This direct petition to parliament will call for the house to endorse the following three items:

• an independent body to be set up with a mandate and timeframe to roll out a climate change action plan to fulfill Government’s stated carbon reducing targets
• cross party support and
• funding

The next ESG public meeting will be held very soon with a date to be announced in the media.

ESG Radio Newsletter 16^th May 2019

A few weeks ago and since our last press release on the recent increased activism witnessed locally and globally on Climate Change, the ESG held a public meeting which saw a good turnout and strong and sustained discussion on all key issues pertaining to Climate Change and Gibraltar. Our mtg followed a Govt statement that a Climate Emergency Pledge was to be declared before Parliament for support, with details on how to achieve the intended halving and eventual elimination of carbon emissions by stated dates.

Our group has lobbied and campaigned against pollution – a primary generator of carbon emissions locally and regionally – for close to two decades. We have also called for public debate to include all sectors and be ‘information based’ to inform and influence as much as possible in the shortest time possible. This is what Climate Change requires and an emergency requires urgent action.

We called a meeting to discuss all these issues openly as a first of others to follow. All attendees were invited to record their foremost concerns on the environment and climate change and the discussions threw up new issues and ideas on how citizens and NGOs can take things forward. Work is going on in these areas and more information will be published soon.

It’s clear that for many depoliticising the environment and supporting a clear Climate Change Action Plan managed with its own resources and dedicated team (with representation from all parties) was strongly supported.

The ESG welcomed the cross party support in the House for the Government led Climate Emergency Pledge which took place the day after our public mtg and are now in direct contact with Government calling for details of their action plan to be released earlier than the end of this year as was mentioned.

More news on these and other issues next week.

A date for your diary is our fifteenth Clean up the World Event being held this year on the 21^st September. After last years efforts and the feedback from teams its clear there is still a big appetite for this nationwide clean up that raises much awareness and has also helped shape the litter agenda in nature spots in particular and more broadly in waste management in Gibraltar. Please sign up if new to the Clean up by emailing esg@gibtelecom.net. All existing teams will shortly be contacted with information on this years campaign aims and actions.

The next Development and Planning Commission meeting will be held on the 30^th May at 9.30am at the Charles Hunt Room, John Mackintosh Hall. The next few DPC meetings could interest people following development issues in Gibraltar – meetings are held publicly and agendas published on the Town Planning website a week before the session takes place.

Get in touch for more information. Thanks for listening.

ESG Radio Newsletter April 18^th April 2019

As we enter the long Easter weekend we pause to reflect on some pretty seismic events taking place recently regarding our environment.

There are protests, for example, going on at present, part of a week long of civic protests held by a group called Extinction Rebellion – a movement that elicits widespread support, mixed with some frustration as people’s day to day lives are disrupted – that is their goal, as is to get arrested and create waves so that this most important, vital issue takes centre stage in our otherwise busy lives.

The ESG resonated with the recent local youth march up Main Street as we also believe that Gibraltar needs to make this issue centre stage. It occupies the top spot in our wish list, which later focuses on eliminating pollution from our immediate environment and from a number of sources, but issues which are inextricably linked to the production of harmful greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. Following the Youth protest and Government Climate Emergency pledge response, the ESG released a detailed statement on this critical issue detailing what, in our view, needs to happen next. You can find this published in various local media as well as on our website: esg-gib.net.

We recently participated on a Viewpoint debate on GBC on the proposed major new land reclamation project at Coaling Island and offered our views on planning and environmental implications. We have always called for all projects to be transparently and carefully scrutinised and for holistic planning to direct and guide larger proposals. We are told that Gibraltar must grow – but we need to know by how much and at what speed. How does development of the like we have seen in the past few decades, and set to continue, figure in addressing our carbon footprint?

These and many other questions are being asked by many in the community and is why it is so important for Government to run open meetings where information can be supplied on existing plans and the public have opportunities to ask questions and also provide ideas and information. Let the public debates begin – lets face the difficult questions!

Over the past few weeks we have seen progressive works and testing of the new Power Station at North Mole Road. This has included checking of urea dosing, a process used to help eliminate emissions from the plant once operational. What you see are plumes of dark orange smoke leaving the stacks for periods of time. We have received assurances from the authorities who have said a statement will be issued shortly to provide further information.

Next week is DPC once again. Date will be 25^th April as from 9.30am at the Charles Hunt Room. Agenda has been published online and found on Town planning website and the public is welcome to attend.ESG