How the environment has been ‘Greenwashed’ for years
Over the years countless questions have been asked from successive Gibraltar Governments regarding environmental policies, questions which today, still remains unanswered?
The big question is ‘where is Gibraltar’s environmental policy’ or the one, that seriously outlines the aims and principles in relation to managing environmental effects and aspects of its operations in a modern society situation. Is any of this really happening? Is it even visible? Clearly, many people are still looking and asking this same question?
New policies on various land uses and developments are being issued or announced, in the vacuum of the yet unpublished or unseen Strategic Plan for Environment and Development.
Even without a coherent policy in place, the government is coming up with controversial long-term related policies in the name of the environment, without publishing an accurate or precise professional environmental information to support whatever development is being proposed. Like the one planned in the ‘Line Wall Road’ saga, which is one current example.
In fact, these polices, I have no doubt, are not based on any environmental strategy, betraying the lack of seriousness and professionalism in the creation of these policies. Which obviously, undermines the public’s trust.
Greenwashing the Environment
We’ve all heard of words like corruption, money-laundering and the whitewashing of the truth these are common words and issues we read about from all over the world.
Now, added to that list of lovely words, and a new trend it seems, to the local environmental vocabulary is that of Greenwashing. This is when you try to make something out to be a positive environmentally-friendly initiative, only for it to turn out to be a lot of soap suds and not much else. It is usually an unsubstantiated or misleading claim about the environmental benefits of a product, service, technology or company practice or a political decision!
For example, I am all for the organic waste initiative, the separation of waste and recycling, and despite a certain number of flaws in the way it was rolled out on a national scale locally, the intention behind it is praiseworthy.
Conscious of Rubbish Generated
Of course, we all need to be more aware of how much rubbish we generate, and nothing drives this point home more than when you separate waste. More and more people are trying to cut down on the amount of unnecessary plastic they use and trying not to waste so much food which ends up being thrown away. Why this initiative was never made compulsory for those who generate the most waste of all: restaurants, supermarkets and industry in general there is evidence of that each morning?
There appears to be something wrong with this scheme: because if bars, restaurants, hotels, food businesses are not obliged to separate their waste. Tonnes of food waste is being thrown away with thousands of bottles, cans etc. (are) thrown away as mixed waste so why bother with encouraging the rest. The efforts being made by us common citizens to diligently separate our waste is just a drop in the ocean in comparison, if business concerns are still not being obliged to do it (and human nature being what it is), unless they are forced to do so, and why it appears senseless, to apply this scheme to households but not seriously to industry.
What the people really want, are policies that actually form the foundation of a local environmental improvement programme; a policy that should also provide significant benefits to our community.
A policy in fact, which should also demonstrate commitment to environmental management, but importantly, an environmental programme that develops positive relations with the vast array of stakeholders in the community.
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14-07-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
