Ricardo continues Gibraltar air quality programme for further five years

World-class environmental, engineering and strategic consulting company Ricardo is continuing its long relationship with Gibraltar after being awarded an extension of its existing consultancy agreement to manage the air quality and climate change programme until 2025.

Ricardo’s team of experts began working with the British Overseas Territory’s government and Environmental Agency on the initiative in 2005 and have built up a strong client relationship throughout the project.

They will continue to provide air quality monitoring with associated data management and QA/QC procedures, data reporting, policy support, emission inventory compilation and climate change consultancy.

Paul Willis, Air Quality Measurements Business Area Manager, Ricardo Energy and Environment, said: “This programme has evolved over almost two decades, during which we’ve undertaken surveys and developed policy in support of our clients. The backbone of the work is a comprehensive air quality management programme, including measurements and modelling that underpins a wide range of policy work.”

Ricardo will be working with the Environmental Agency of Gibraltar to provide the air quality monitoring aspects of the programme and with the Department of the Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change and Heritage for the emission inventory and climate change programme.

Since its inception, the programme has provided the high-quality evidence base to support the government’s air quality management policy and for all formal reporting requirements.

Within the extended programme, the ambitions of the government will be further developed with the inclusion of updates to the Ricardo traffic model using the innovative RapidAir model; training for the Department of the Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change and Heritage to enable them to model emission reduction options and monitor the subsequent impacts; and to introduce organisation-specific emission inventories.

Paul continued: “The new contract sees us expand the work with an ever-increasing focus on climate change with net zero action planning, projections, indicators and resilience work to meet the requirements of an ambitious government plan and Climate Change Act.

“The past two decades have provided the team with a great opportunity to deliver and develop a technically challenging, highly rewarding project, and the continued expansion of the programme is a testament to the very strong client relationship we’ve forged.”