The ESG welcomes the message that the Minister for the Environment, Dr John Cortes, gave during a recent virtual meeting, a precursor to the COP26-the Climate Change Summit, which will take place on 1st November of this year. Dr Cortes, representing the British Overseas Territories, warned that the restoration of the global economy should not take priority over the climate crisis and biodiversity.
The ESG recognises that the Covid pandemic has had a disastrous effect on the world economy, which needs to be redressed, but it is also very aware that the full blown consequences of climate change would be immeasurably worse than those caused by the pandemic.
The Climate Emergency declaration in Gibraltar included a commitment to report to Parliament by the end of 2019, with a climate emergency action plan. Now that things seem to be returning to some normality, we need to reset climate action as a priority. The Climate Change Act requires the establishment of a climate change committee; we need to see the emissions reduction targets for 2030 and 2045, as well as progress targets for each 4 year period.
Whilst the ESG understands that the covid pandemic has upended all previous plans, we would welcome an update on these matters and a renewed commitment from Government that it intends to honour these obligations and ensure that Gibraltar’s economic recovery is environmentally sustainable.
The ESG was shocked and saddened to witness the spread of heavy, thick marine oil throughout the harbour area caused by an accident at sea from a vessel taking bunker fuel off the South Mole.
It believes a full investigation into the cause of the spill must be carried out by the Port Authority to establish the extent of the spill and level of supervision in place during this particular transfer.
The coordinated action by the Port, Department of the Environment and different entities involved in the Command Centre, has helped remove the worst of the oil spill although there still remain a few significant hotspots. These include the bathing pavilion area among others. Land based cleaning will follow but it will be some time before the impacts from this oil spill are fully known and pollution caused by it, disappear entirely.
The threats to birds and sea life are obvious and the ESG demands that every effort is made by the authorities to establish precisely what happened following the apparent valve failure. It would like to know whether a full investigation has started into all aspects of the fuel transfer?
With the significant season for diving birds underway the ESG is particularly concerned by this spill and would like to hear about all the steps that will be taken to ensure this does not happen again. We would like to know the volume of oil that was leaked and the speed in which the oil contingency response was initiated.
Finally the group expects that ‘polluting paying regulations’ will be fully applied once the investigation is completed to cover the costs of the clean up and impact on the environment which will continue for some time given the very challenging nature of cleaning up an oil spill.
A number of birds have been taken in for treatment so far.
If anyone spots a soiled bird please do not approach but contact the Environmental Protection Team on 58009620 immediately.’
It’s not been a full year since we began experiencing the full challenge and restrictions from the coronavirus that has provoked such unease, change in life circumstance, and tragedy. We hope that change is coming and that a semblance of normality will soon resume.
As issues of interest and concern to the ESG have been announced in the press recently, we felt this is a good opportunity today to run through some of these in our radio newsletter.
Last week we heard about the issuing of an LNG Bunkering Licence to Shell to operate from the Gibraltar Port Authority. While this prospect was raised a number of times during the early Power Station negotiations and technical preparations, we believe there remain a number of questions that should be answered. Where the storage for such a service comes from? What the short, medium to long-term plans are to balance LNG and Diesel bunkering capacity given our restricted anchorage facilities? How will this impact the growth in business on the main carbon impacting activity in Gibraltar during a period of global divestment in fossil fuels? And how we must include this activity in our Climate Action Plans. Please visit our website for a full statement on this issue.
Last week also saw a very positive development on the legislation of the increase in Energy Performance Certificate criteria for renewable energy use in major buildings. This is a solid step in recognising the major impact that large-scale development has on our carbon footprint. While not meeting our call fully for an entire building project to be measured in carbon terms from the first brick laid, it nevertheless brings a necessary reality check to these major structures we are seeing and how sustainable they are.
This measure falls within Gibraltar’s climate targets and we hope to see the release and publication of the full Climate Action plans which has seen serious delay due to Covid, to follow this positive step.
With COP26 Climate Conference taking place in Glasgow later this year especially in light of renewed USA support we sincerely hope that a line will be drawn in the sand with less hot air and frustration and meaningful actions rolled out.
The world needs good news right now and turning a corner on climate action would be very good news indeed.
The ESG notes that Shell has been awarded
an LNG bunker licence for ship-to-ship operations in Gibraltar.
It also realises that the Gibraltar
Government has always maintained its support for this and for Shells interest
in pursuing this course of action.
The group has from the start of Shells
presence in Gibraltar advocated highest standards and transparency from
the company, and sought the same assurances from the Gibraltar Government
believing the safety of the community to be of paramount importance. While
it understands that burning LNG as opposed to Diesel will have environmental
benefits it does not eliminate Greenhouse Gas emissions or air pollution
altogether. Until such time as LNG totally replaces Diesel there will be an
increase in pollution arising from this new licence.
With Shell describing Gibraltar as one of
the busiest ports in Europe it follows that from a climate change perspective
this activity should be fully accounted for, including on its overall carbon
impacts today, and for the next 10 and 20 years of the Climate Emergency. At
present these are not recorded within City Emissions for action but as ‘Other
emissions’.
The group also asks where the supply of
LNG will come from for the servicing of ships and tankers entering our Port? It also expresses concern that under normal
circumstances our western anchorage points are extremely busy. This means that
there will be even more ships being bunkered around our coastline, at least
until LNG replaces Diesel as the fuel of choice in the Global Maritime World.
The ESG will be taking up all these concerns
directly with the Port and the Environmental authorities.
An end of year
round up from us as we face a somewhat uncertain future with the imminent
departure from the EU round the corner.
Apart from border fluidity and economic concerns we also have setbacks for the environment as we will
no longer have EU institutions to fall back on regarding regional and cross
border environmental impacts.
The ESG, together
with NGOs from Gibraltar and Spain, have over the years filed a number of
Complaints to the European Commission on breaches of environmental regulations
and standards, principally down to the rapid growth and expansion of the
petrochemical complex and Oil Refinery in the Campo area and excesses of
harmful air pollution .
We understand our
Government has tabled several concerns on the environmental front with its UK
counterparts and we have submitted information on issues that, from our perspective, will stand to
worsen without European oversight on matters of cross border pollution.
The ESG will monitor the situation and is also in close contact with our colleagues across the border. By the time we do our next radio newsletter we may certainly know the type of Brexit, and depth of changes we will experience after the 31st December.
As we have
stressed in lengthy articles and interviews published recently, in local media,
October’s OTWO, and INSIGHT magazine in December, we realise that Covid, on top of
Brexit, is clearly and understandably occupying the minds of our leaders and so
have had to accept that deliverance of some large projects will have taken a
back seat.
Nonetheless we
shall resume our lobbying at the start
of 2021 to ensure that Gibraltar continues to focus on climate targets, significant traffic
changes, intensifies its roll-out of
renewable energy programme, improves impacts
from shipping and produces a draft
development plan for public feedback to enable the community to both
influence and understand the trajectory for development in Gibraltar
from an ‘official’ standpoint. Clearly adequate infrastructure, energy, waste
management and sewage treatment must accompany our ever-growing built
environment– we should not continue to build without such support and
foundation that makes us more sustainable.
You can find more
info on these matters and press releases on our website www.esg-gib.net including the welcoming of
the new Post Office Electric Fleet.
A reminder that
the final 2020 DPC mtg takes place
on the 17th December at
9.30am. These meetings are public and live streamed and you can find the
link at DPC Gibraltar, Agendas, with the 17th December meeting already
carrying the link.
Have yourselves a safe, green and peaceful
Christmas.
The ESG is concerned about major changes facing the environment as
we finally go through the process of exiting Europe on the 31st
December 2020. In the run up to this significant date the group has submitted
feedback to Government in the hope that some of our concerns will have featured
in official discussions with both UK and Spanish counterparts.
The ESG has embraced EU institutions for a considerable number of years to ensure that significant industrial activity in the Bay is monitored and regulatory compliance enforced to protect people and the environment.
This is especially crucial because the Bay hosts one of the largest
Oil refineries in Spain which historically has operated to shocking standards
and created health risks for all bay inhabitants. With the assistance of the
EU, our MEPs and cross border public pressure, we have seen tangible changes and
some significant improvements.
The major reclamation Project announced to be carried out to expand
the Algeciras Port area by 2030 is another serious issue. Such projects have
regional impacts and demand that cross border Environmental Impact Assessments
are carried out. This assessment would
investigate impacts on the marine environment as well as changes to
hydrology. We should remember the
damages suffered in Gibraltar after the last significant reclamation by
Algeciras Port when a major storm overwhelmed much of our coastal
infrastructure.
The ESG will be taking up this matter with its colleagues across the
border.
The group hopes, going forward, that our regional environment will
see improved cross border management and protection on a technical level and
will lend every assistance to help make it so, despite the obvious challenges
ahead.
Please visit
website: www.esg-gib.net List of Objectives 2019 – section 7 for Cross
Border concerns
for a look back to a number of major campaigns taken on by the ESG.
Starting with a damaged Nuclear Submarine – HMS Tireless – seeking repairs on the Rock, which launched the ESG, to the highly polluting CEPSA Oil Refinery, across the border.
Clean up the World also features as a hands on community campaign itself now in its 16th year.
The
ESG welcomes the latest Government announcement that new electric buses have
been successfully trialed in Gibraltar this past weekend.
The
group now awaits firm steps to follow in the tendering process with the window
given for the new fleet to be in place within 9 months from awarding of
tender.
This
is a significant step that we would like to see followed by the removal from
our streets of all polluting second hand buses, coaches, commercial and
other vehicles.
Only in this way can Gibraltar achieve environmental gains for the whole community with lasting impacts, significantly transforming our roads and quality of life.
