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Jun 18 - Gibraltar Delegation Outlines Gibraltar’s Step Towards Renewable Energy to White House Advisors

washingtonChief Minister Fabian Picardo and Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Joseph Garcia, have met with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of The White House - which houses a majority of offices for White House staff. The CEQ are President Obama's principal policy advisers on environmental issues and initiatives. The Gibraltar delegation met with the Deputy Chief of Staff and the Associate Director for Climate Change.

The Chief Minister briefed the Council on the steps that Gibraltar was taking towards carbon neutrality including the ongoing change of the main power generation fuel from diesel to gas which will dramatically reduce emissions and the introduction of alternative energy sources for the first time. The point was made that environmentally-friendly technology was being planned for new Government housing projects and that solar-thermal had been introduced in the GASA swimming pool as well as into St Bernard's Hospital. Wave energy is also going to be explored in more detail with the signing last week of Gibraltar's first contract for this type of energy.

The potential export of US technology for these and other projects in Gibraltar was discussed as part of the commercial agenda of the meeting. Many of these technology- related exports resulted from contacts made during the recent successful Trade Mission of US companies to Gibraltar.

At the meeting with White House staff, Mr Picardo also explained how the commercial relationship with US companies and HMGoG's environmental agenda had already resulted in his official car now being an electric US Tesla and how, additionally, the Government's motorised fleet now includes a number of other hybrid vehicles. A number of initiatives to promote the wider use among citizens of renewable energy products were also considered, with ideas from both sides forming part of the discussion.

The Deputy Chief Minister, who chairs the Government's Climate Change Task Force, outlined its work including the coastal protection measures that are being undertaken in different parts of Gibraltar. The meeting agreed on the importance of engaging the private sector in Climate Change initiatives and discussed the effect of incentives to promote greater awareness and up-take of new technologies, with some of HMGoG's ideas prompting considerable interest from the White House team.

The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister also held a number of political meetings with Members of Congress. This is the second time this year that meetings have been held with Democratic and Republican Congressmen and is part of a strategy which is designed to protect the long term interests of Gibraltar by promoting understanding of the topical issues affecting our Community.

The Gibraltar delegation included Chief Secretary Ernesto Gomez and the Chief Minister's Principal Private Secretary, Tony Davis.
Mr Picardo and Dr Garcia return to Gibraltar on Thursday.