The Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia chaired a meeting of the Net Zero Delivery Body at No 6 Convent Place on Friday morning. Also attended by the Minister for Environment, the Hon John Cortes, and the Minister for Health, Care and Business, the Hon Gemma Arias-Vasquez, the Board is comprised of representatives and stakeholders from across Government departments, agencies and authorities.

The Board received an update from consultants Ricardo on the review of the 2022 Greenhouse Gas Inventory results, which broke down Gibraltar’s manageable greenhouse gas emissions by sector. Gibraltar’s manageable emissions are comprised of transport (45.9%), stationary energy (30.3%), industrial processes and product use (13.4%) and waste (10.4%). These results will allow the Board to target the areas in which the most improvement can be achieved in the shortest amount of time.

Significant areas for improvement have been identified within the Government’s own road transport fleet of vehicles. The Government will now work towards transitioning as much of its own fleet to electric-powered vehicles as possible, in line with the Climate Change Strategy. This is in conjunction with the ongoing trial of Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel on Gibraltar Bus Company buses, with a view to reducing emissions as much as possible and in the most efficient way possible and to extending HVO use to other transporters.

The Gibraltar Electricity Authority have made progress with the project to install photovoltaic panels at Gibraltar International Airport, which is expected to increase by two thirds the amount of electricity generated by solar energy across Gibraltar. The GEA reported that the use of LNG and increased efficiency of the new power plant has reduced its own emissions by 3%.

Within the Department of Education, 6 schools have so far undertaken Carbon Literacy Training, with a further 5 schools to follow suit this academic year. The Department is also working together with young people through positive meetings with learner ambassadors and teacher representatives to identify and address their specific climate concerns. As a direct result of young people voicing their concerns about recycling rates and waste management, secondary schools in particular will take a harder approach to single use plastic bottles on school premises and will actively encourage the uptake of reusable bottles.

The Net Zero Delivery Board is attended by three members of the Cabinet together with Senior Officials from across Government. This is testament to the importance of its work and the urgency with which the Government is keen to make progress towards meeting our climate objectives. It is clear that significant organisational, behavioural and cultural change is required as we progress such matters.