MIKE HEDGES AM WECLOMES WELSH GOVERNMENTS CLEAN AIR CONCULTATION

MIKE HEDGES AM WECLOMES WELSH GOVERNMENTS CLEAN AIR CONCULTATION



Speaking from his Morriston office, Swansea East AM said… ‘Breathing clean air ought to be seen as a human right; sadly it is not. We cannot leave something as important as this to chance – it is right that the Welsh Government is going to legislate to ensure that people can breathe clean and unpolluted air. I have long campaigned against the incineration of non-medical waste and this is a classic example of how we can control what is put into the atmosphere.



I urge everyone to respond to the consultation and get your views taken into account’

TITLE	Clean Air
BY	Lesley Griffiths AM, Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs

I am pleased to launch a 12-week public consultation on our ambitious, cross-Government plans to improve air quality across Wales.



I know all in this Assembly agrees that the people of Wales have the right to breathe healthy air.  Although our current overall air quality is good and compares well with the rest of the UK and the EU, we can do better and there is clear scope for further action. 



The Clean Air Plan for Wales: Healthy Air, Healthy Wales sets out a national framework that will enable all of us, across Wales, to work together to secure further, sustainable improvement in a way that reinforces our work on climate change, decarbonisation and environmental growth. 



It is an important milestone in our efforts to further improve air quality in Wales and brings together work across many Government departments and public sector organisations through four central themes which are:

• Protecting Health and Wellbeing of current and future generations
• Supporting environment, ecosystems and biodiversity
• Supporting a prosperous Wales
• Supporting sustainable places

It is vital our approach protects the health and wellbeing of current and future generations.  Our first theme highlights current and planned actions to reduce air pollution, risks and inequalities, including committing to new evidence-based, health-focused, targets for particulate matter in Wales which take account of stringent WHO guidelines values.



The second theme recognises the importance of protecting our natural environment, eco-systems and biodiversity and promoting environmental growth for future generations. One of the greatest challenges we face is to find a way to secure a healthy, resilient and productive environment for the future while continuing to create jobs, housing and infrastructure. We will measure progress through new indicators for biodiversity.



The third theme supports ‘A prosperous Wales’. We want to be an innovative, productive and low carbon society which recognises the limits of the global environment and uses resources efficiently and proportionately.



Thriving businesses are important to a successful Welsh economy and we need to deliver our ambitions for economic growth, alongside our commitments to clean air and healthy environmental growth.  Driven by a combination of regulation, investment and technical advances, significant progress has already been made to reduce air pollution from industry. To achieve further improvements we will continue to work with stakeholders, targeting particular industrial air quality challenges.



The fourth and final theme recognises the importance of reducing airborne pollution in public places.



Planning Policy Wales recognises the importance of air quality and appropriate soundscapes to the health and well-being of people and the environment. We are producing further guidance for Local Planning Authorities and developers to support the detailed consideration of air quality and soundscapes in the planning process.



A joined up approach between national transport and planning policy supports an increase in public transport use and active travel, reducing emissions and public exposure. We will work with stakeholders to encourage a modal shift from private vehicle dependency to sustainable forms of transport.



Whilst we can take the lead and set an example through Government actions, we cannot deliver the plan on our own.



Successfully addressing air pollution means Welsh Government, its agencies, Local Authorities, business and industry, non-Governmental organisations and the general public all working together. 



We will empower everyone to reduce their impacts and exposures to local air quality through better education and awareness-raising and develop targeted and integrated communications to inform and enable behavioural change.



Our new Clean Air Act for Wales will play a key role in helping us achieve all of this by delivering the First Minister’s manifesto commitment and reduce the burden of poor air quality on human health, our economy, biodiversity and natural environment.



I will be consulting on more detailed proposals for the Act by the end of the current Assembly term, taking into account the responses to this consultation.



Over the next 12 weeks I am hoping for a constructive discussion on the proposals in the Plan and encourage you and your constituents to respond.  



Together we have an opportunity to improve air quality throughout the country for us, for our children and for future generations.