Julie James: Move.
Julie James: Yes.
Julie James: No, I'm not objecting.
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. I will address amendments 18, 19 and 21 together. Firstly, just to thank Janet Finch-Saunders for agreeing to collaborate on these three amendments. Taken together, they would revise the reporting requirements in section 4 of the Bill, so Welsh Ministers would need to report not only on any considerations they make about prohibiting single-use plastic wet wipes or sauce...
Julie James: Turning to amendment 41 first, as amendment 55 is consequential to it, it does, as Delyth has just explained, require Welsh Ministers to establish an oversight project board and an advisory panel within 12 months of the Bill’s receiving Royal Assent. It provides a brief outline of each body’s purpose and proposes potential functions for each. The explanatory memorandum, as Delyth has...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. Amendment 24 was tabled by Janet Finch-Saunders, and it seeks to provide a defence regarding the lack of intention to supply where a person is in possession of a prohibited single-use product. I confirm that a similar amendment was tabled and considered at Stage 2. I'd just like to reiterate at this point that possession of a single-use plastic product covered by the Bill is...
Julie James: Just turning first to consider amendment 25, proposed by Janet Finch- Saunders, this would, as she said, place Welsh Ministers under a duty to provide local authorities with sufficient funding to enable them to undertake their enforcement functions under the Bill. I believe this is similar to a change proposed during Stage 2. I've listened again to the points made and, while I understand the...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm absolutely delighted to move the motion before the Senedd today for Stage 4 of the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill, which I introduced into the Senedd on 20 September 2022. Since the Bill was introduced, it has progressed successfully through Stages in the Senedd's legislation process on a fast-tracked timetable. I'm most grateful to...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. Only simply to say again my thanks to everyone who's worked very hard on the Bill, all of the committees, all of the Members, but, most especially, to the people, businesses and young people of Wales who have worked tirelessly and hard, and have pressed me very hard to get this Bill onto the statute book, and I am delighted to have been able to do it for them and for our...
Julie James: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you very much to Jack for bringing forward the debate and giving me the opportunity to speak about water safety and drowning prevention. Dirprwy Lywydd, I'd just like to start, as you'd expect me to, by offering my deepest sympathies to Mark Allen's family and to anyone else in Wales who has been affected by drowning incidents, because they are, as Vikki...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. I too would like to begin by thanking the committee and Chair for their work and for the recent report on the interim environmental governance arrangements. I think the committee's report is well considered and balanced, and I'm very pleased to confirm that the Government accepts all of its recommendations. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to...
Julie James: So, in light of the important work that she has been undertaking, I am pleased to confirm that the Welsh Government will be extending Dr Llewelyn Jones's contract for a further year, and I'm particularly pleased that it is Dr Llewelyn Jones. We're not just extending the role, but we're extending her role in it, and I think that's a very important point to make. The committee's report made a...
Julie James: Sorry, go on, Huw.
Julie James: Absolutely, Huw, I was coming on to say exactly that. We want those targets to be meaningful and stretching. We want them to be achievable, though. There's no point in having targets and everybody goes, 'Oh well, you'll never do that'. We need them to be realistic and achievable targets, where we can protect 30 per cent of our land, freshwater and seas by 2030. That's not very far away, so we...
Julie James: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. In December I attended the UN Biodiversity Conference, known as COP15, to add Wales’s voice to calls to agree an ambitious global framework to turn the tide on biodiversity loss before it is too late. After two weeks of intensive negotiations, I’m pleased to say that the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework was formally adopted, setting out four global goals, 23...
Julie James: Attending the seventh summit for subnational Governments and cities was one of the key highlights for me at COP15. The summit was dedicated to showcasing the work of subnational Governments and cities on nature recovery, and I was so impressed by the ambition and energy to drive forward action at the local level. We've made some really valuable connections and I am really keen to build on...
Julie James: Thanks very much, Janet. It was amazing to be at COP15, I have to say. You really do come back feeling evangelical about the need to move on this stuff. One of the things that I really wish I could share with all Members here in the Senedd is that, at the entrance to COP15, there was what was called a 'wholly immersive room', where you went in and you had the most incredible film from...
Julie James: Diolch, Delyth. [Inaudible.] the film, horrifying though it was. Actually, I really do want to see if we can get it, or a version of it, here. There will be issues around copyright and so on. It was National Geographic, so I just want to acknowledge that. That's, obviously, a profit-making company. But we can have a look to see if we can do it here. And if we can't, then I'm sure we can do...
Julie James: There are several things in what you said there that I can add to. So, first of all, we will have to work with a group of experts on constructing a review of designated landscapes, and marine and riverscapes as well, so that we have a review that properly looks at what are they trying to protect; is it still worth protecting; is it working; and what would need to happen in this particular...
Julie James: Yes, thank you very much, Mike. You have raised it before, and I've said before, haven't I, about the Yellowstone project. If you watch the reintroduction of the wolves and what happens to the landscape, it's just an amazing transformation as the ecosystem goes back into equilibrium. So, it's very important for us to understand what that equilibrium should look like and to do that judiciously...
