What is the Welsh Government doing to tackle climate change?

What is the Welsh Government doing to tackle climate change?

Mike Hedges AM who chairs the climate change, environment and rural affairs committee at the National Assembly said “ Climate change is the biggest threat we face, land is in serious danger of being lost to rising sea levels and many species face extinction as the climate changes faster than they can adapt. I welcome the Welsh Government action which needs to be copied by countries around the World”



On the 29th of April 2019 Wales became one of the first nations in to declare a climate emergency.

We were already doing some great things with 100 actions in our plan, including:

·         accelerating the deployment of renewable energy  

·         making our homes more energy efficient and reducing fuel poverty 

·         transforming Wales into one of the top three recycling nations in the world.

·         planting over 800,000 trees, and 

·         and creating more than 840 free water refill stations

But we all agree that we can and need to do more.

Since we declared a climate emergency, we’ve been talking to groups such as Extinction Rebellion, agencies like your local councils and Natural Resources Wales, and you, the public, about the next steps we should take to create a better future for our planet.

Here are the top 8 things we’re doing to tackle the climate emergency in Wales:

1. Setting ambitious targets to cut carbon emissions. We’re raising our carbon reduction targets to 95% with an ambition to get to net zero by 2050. 
2. Making it easier for people to use their car less. We’re investing £30 million on improving active travel, making it easier for people to walk, cycle and use public transport. 
3. Banning some single use plastics. We’re banning and restricting 10 common single use plastics including straws, stirrers and cotton buds, plastic cutlery, polystyrene food packaging and drinks containers. 
4. Tackling the nature emergency. We’re addressing diversity loss and increasing ecosystem resilience by creating a National Forest and investing £500,000 in community-led projects to improve biodiversity and minimise waste.
5. Investing in the circular economy. We’re supporting businesses in Wales to reuse existing materials and minimise waste.
6. More electric vehicle charging points. We’re developing an Electric Vehicle charging strategy and have allocated more than £500,000 for charging infrastructure. We’ve also started introducing electric buses into public transport.
7. Establishing world-leading renewable industries. We’ve secured nearly £20 million in EU investment to establish a world leading marine energy sector in Wales. 
8. Promising to keep the conversation going. We’ve established a permanent Cabinet Sub-Committee to keep climate emergency a priority at the highest level in government. We promise to keep conversations going, especially with young people through our eco-schools and Size of Wales programmes, and the new curriculum.

These are just some of the pledges we’ve made to tackle climate change. What pledges are you making? 

Thank you to everyone who has engaged with us on the climate emergency so far. We’d love for you to keep talking to us via:

Facebook: facebook.com/welshgovernment/
Twitter: twitter.com/WelshGovernment
#LowCarbonWales