The GOB Interisland Board of Directors met in Menorca

Common Environmental Problems of the Balearic Islands

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The GOB Interisland Board of Directors met in Menorca to deal with questions that are of concern to the whole of the Balearic Islands. Mass tourism affects a large part of the Balearic territory, where there is still much land threatened with urbanization. It is also urgent to tackle waste, energy transition and the search for a more sustainable economy.

Different indicators, international reports and local data show some aspects which need to be tackled as a matter of urgency jointly by the society with different organizations. Against the new political scene, the representatives of the GOBs from the different islands have agreed they will work and demand for significant action especially on the following matters:

  1. To put limits on human pressure on the Balearic Islands:
    • Reduce the number of tourist places using the formula 2×1, and eliminating obsolete places.
    • Reduce tourist pressure and contamination caused by cruise ships and planes.
  2. Declassify land in danger of being built on, principally:
    • Land which does not have urbanisation rights.
    • Land which limits or includes ANEIs (Natural Areas of Special Interest).
    • Land on the front line of the coast.
  3. Establish and apply methods to stop building speculation.
  4. Apply new regulations on environmental protection, on posidonia, on waste, on the energy transition and climate change. We will demand that sufficient human and technical resources be made available. The law on posidonia, especially, requires effective vigilance.
  5. The economy ought to be reducing carbon. We need to advance the energy transition and the circular economy.
  6. Demand that new building aims for a nil effect on the environment with reference to the consumption of water, energy and building materials. Apply the regulation nZEB (Buildings with nearly zero energy consumption).
  7. Ask for a review of the fiscal system based on ecological criteria.