menorca pel clima

The platform Menorca for the Climate

CLIMATE STRIKE MANIFIESTO 27th OF SEPTEMBER

A number of local associations and individuals have decided to join the international climate action and would like to invite other people on the island to join them.

Years have passed since the scientific community first started to warn us about the dire consequences that modern life is having on the climate. As politicians have chosen not to respond to the emergency, citizens all over the world have risen to demand action. On the 27^th of September, a world- wide climate has action been called to force them to face up to the climate deadline.

Melting  polar caps and ice-bergs, the smashing of temperature records, rising sea levels and changing patterns of world wildlife and fauna are all facts. Human societies cannot carry on along their suicidal path of endless fossil fuelled growth, while the planet’s systems fail.

Although there are public figures who don’t just deny the facts, but also project messages of populism and ignorance, young people are speaking up, fully aware of the future they are inheriting. The time has come for change to be imposed from below, to hear the communities clamouring from the streets and the social networks. 

Here in Menorca, we have our own symbol of this polluting and abusive economic model, the electricity generating plant which periodically hits the headlines, as its effects on public health and it’s flaunting of regulations are brought to our attention. We do not want Menorca to be a source of such negative publicity. Renewable energy sources are our only way forward and must be put into place urgently. We already have at hand the technology needed to make the leap to generating much cleaner electricity, and time is running out.

We demand that Menorca’s decarbonisation plan is exceeded. By 2020, 25% of our electricity should be being generated using renewable sources, which should rise to 80% by 2025. This is well within our reach, there is enough private funding available and meanwhile government bodies need to guarantee the economic inclusion of local people in the process. Local planning mechanisms such as the PTI must ensure that the infrastructures put into place are in line with the island’s territorial by laws and can be dismantled in the future, without leaving a scar on our rural landscape.

If we want to significantly reduce carbon emissions, the island’s transport network needs urgent reorganization, people here are particularly reliant on private transport. The implementation of substantial improvements such as increased frequencies, better connections and reduced prices all need to be in place by next summer.

It is important that incentives are given so that people are encouraged to get around on foot or by using forms of transport which do not increase contamination, while heavier contaminators should be penalized. It is necessary for cargo ships to switch to lighter fuels and the idea that the port could be used as a dock for mega cruise liners should to be dismissed out of hand. The time for vague declarations has passed; we demand specific and transparent measures.

Evidently, we can’t build a new future by repeating past errors, any further building projects planned for Menorca must be, self-sufficient both energy and water wise.

Rain water collection systems must be part of our general strategy for facing climate change. It is important that incentives are given to ensure that all new and renovated buildings incorporate them; otherwise, our only recourse will be the use of a desalination plant, an extravagant waste of energy which we can ill afford.

The Earth’s systems are at breaking point, we can no longer put off change. Brave and forward-thinking politicians are the only ones who can direct the agricultural sector into sustainable production methods aimed to satisfy local needs, which at the same time consider the preservation of our landscape.

The education system must provide our students with a forum to debate all climate related issues. We urge the government to make the project 50/50 part of every school, a project which encourages schools to save on their energy consumption, by returning 50% of those savings to the school budget, giving the school community the freedom to decide on how that money is used. Similar projects could be set up in other public services with high level energy consumption.

We need full government commitment to all the above considerations, furthermore citizens must pledge themselves to making appropriate lifestyle choices. We are all aware of the strong, underlying economic interests at play, who will do anything within their means to slow down transformation. It is vital that our political representatives count on the support of a conscientious general- public, enabling a smoother transition through urgent policy change.

Climate change affects everyone and everyone must respond. Climate change is indifferent to religion, race, ideology or nationality. We are facing a transversal problem, now catalogued as a climate emergency. Fear and procrastination will not help the cause, each one of us must reflect on how we can redirect the planet’s future, away from its current crash course.

Thanks very much for your time. 

The platform Menorca for the Climate