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29 April 2017

By Jonathan Starling

The XL-Catlin End-to-End has become a fixture in Bermuda’s calendar, seeing thousands of people participate in walking, riding, paddling and swimming their way across the island – and in the process helping raise money for local charities.

This year, Greenrock is grateful to be one of the three main charities benefitting from this great event, with the monies raised going to support two of our environmental education programmes – Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment!

In addition to Greenrock, this year’s XL Catlin End-to-End will see monies raised for the Adult Education School, Age Concern and Raleigh. And there’s also the option to vote for a fourth charity to receive the 2017 People’s Choice 30^th Anniversary $30,000 award! When you register to participate, you get an option of deciding from four excellent local charities, including YouthNet, a charity that Greenrock works closely together with!

It’s great fun for a good cause, and we ask that all of our supporters sign up and participate in this fantastic event- remember to sign up now and save the date – Saturday, May 6^th!

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29 April 2017

By Davida Morris

What a fabulous month it’s been and it went by so quickly! May is just around the corner and soon schools will be scrambling to get their portfolios in to be assessed.

We’re always encouraging our young people to share what they have been leaning with those around them and this month saw our students sharing with the whole island at the Eco Expo and Water Festival held at HSBC Harbourview. Our schools created poster boards displaying what they have been doing and learning with the public.

It was a great success and we’ve decided to take the Expo on the road! For the next several weeks we are offering our corporate supporters the opportunity to host the Expo at their place of business. If you are interested in hosting the Eco Expo at your business drop me a line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

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29 April 2017

By Jonathan Starling

This year saw Earth Hour return home to City Hall, as well as a repeat of our 5k Fun Glow Walk & Run throughout the streets of the city.

With around 400 participants in the 5k Fun Glow Walk & Run, the streets went dark as street lights went off, only to be lit up again by people power in the form of wearable LEDs that can be reused going forward.

The theme for Earth Hour 2017 was ‘Keeping Up With Climate Change’ and was celebrated in 187 countries with over 3,100 landmarks and monuments switching off their lights to demonstrate solidarity.

See our Earth Hour video on YouTube here!

Earth Hour 2018 will be held on Saturday, March 31^st and we are already starting planning for this event, hoping it will be even bigger than before!

Did you participate in Earth Hour 2017 in Bermuda? Share your photos with Greenrock on Facebook!

Do you have feedback on the event? Email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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29 April 2017

By Jonathan Starling

On World Meteorological Day (March 23rd), the World Meteorological Organisation released its annual ‘State of the Global Climate’, providing a review of 2016 and initial observations for 2017. While these are global observations, the implications are relevant to Bermuda.

1. 2016 was the warmest year on record: ‘...a remarkable 1.1°C above the pre-industrial period, which is 0.6°C above the previous record set in 2015.”
2. Globally averaged sea surface temperatures were also the warmest on record. This not only threatens Bermuda’s reefs, but also will have consequences for hurricanes.
3. Carbon Dioxide levels in the atmosphere broke new records.
4. Each of the 16 years since 2001 has been at least 0.4°C above the long-term average for the 1961-1990 base period (used by the WMO as a reference for climate change monitoring), with global temperatures continuing to be consistent with a warming trend of 0.1-0.2°C per decade.
5. Global sea levels reached new record highs in 2016. For a relatively low-lying island like Bermuda, this could have very serious consequences.

6. Global sea ice extent dropped more than 4 million km2 below average in November - ‘an unprecedented anomaly for that month’.

In addition to these record breaking events, 2016 also saw severe droughts in Southern and Eastern Africa and Central America.

Indications for 2017 so far include growing evidence that ocean heat content may have increased even more than previously reported (resulting in unprecedented and irreversible die-offs among the coral reefs of the world, most notably the catastrophic extensive bleaching of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef). Additionally, provisional data also indicates that there has been no change to the rate of increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

While 2016 was an extreme year, with a strong El Nino event, indications are that 2017 will potentially see a repeat El Nino event as well as see continued impacts of climate change, including potential shifts in wider oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns with uneven consequences - for example, some areas such as Canada and the USA have experienced unseasonably balmy conditions, other areas such as the Middle East and North Africa have experienced unseasonably cold conditions so far in 2017. In the USA alone over 11,700 warm temperature records were broken or tied in February, and parts of Australia experienced high temperature records. If patterns like this continue there will likely be implications for Bermuda tourism as new destinations open up, while local conditions potentially worsen.

The entry into force of the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on November 4th, 2016 did mark a huge step forward in guiding the world in addressing climate change by curbing greenhouse gas emissions. It is vital that the Paris Agreement is implemented - and we must seek to even go beyond it.

This year the theme of Earth Hour is ‘keeping up with climate change’. The report by the WMO shows us that the impact of climate change is happening now.

Bermuda may be small, however we have a role to play in this too. This is especially the case as an island nation we are more likely to be impacted negatively from climate change from a larger or continental country. As a country we not only have an ethical obligation to act, but also a more selfish reason to act in as much as Bermuda will be greatly negatively impacted by climate change if it isn’t checked.

At a minimum Greenrock believes the Paris Agreement should be extended to Bermuda, just as the Kyoto Protocol was. We also believe that climate change needs to be a priority of the Government, looking at ensuring our infrastructure is climate proofed and setting out both caps on greenhouse gas emissions and targets for phasing out fossil fuels.

Each of us also has a role in becoming more ‘green’ in reducing our energy consumption, reduce the amount of waste we produce and be more aware of food miles in our purchasing decisions. 

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29 April 2017

By Jonathan Starling 

Greenrock was invited to review the Baseline Report by Bermuda Reef Ecosystem Analysis & Monitoring Programme, which can be read in its entirety online here.

The report makes for some distressing reading for anyone concerned about the environment. We knew that fish catches were too high in the 1970s and had not recovered fully in the 1980s - what this report indicates is that the large predatory fishes, the apex predators of our waters, still haven't recovered and remain at critical population levels. Apex predators such as our groupers/rockfish are crucial for our nearshore ecosystems - they are the tigers or lions of our local environment. 

The ocean is the cornerstone of Earth's life support system - it shapes climate and the weather - and our nearshore not only feeds us but protects us from storm events. The argument is simple - if we lose our large predatory fish, then we will lose our coral reefs, and that will have dire consequences for our future. 

Environmentalists are fond of the saying 'think globally, act locally'. That is very relevant to what this report speaks to. Our reefs are already stressed - and likely to see more stress - due to rising sea temperatures, rising sea levels, ocean acidification and ocean deoxygenation - all consequences of global climate change. Added to this stress is the lionfish invasion and the critical population levels of our large predators.

We can act locally by actively caring for our nearshore and taking steps to reduce our own contributions to greenhouse gases.”