Delyth Jewell: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you, Minister; I really hope that your throat is okay. We live in a time of crisis, and the challenge that we face is known to us all. I welcome this strategy today as a starting point, as was the declaration of a climate emergency and a nature emergency; that was also a starting point, offering an opportunity to lay some foundations. However, as with the...
Delyth Jewell: What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the importance of protecting young people’s mental health and wellbeing?
Delyth Jewell: As we've heard, since Jack tabled this question it has become even more pertinent considering the events of last Friday. So much support has been given to us as Members since last week in order to discuss safety, but members of staff—Commission staff, as well as Members' staff, too—also have to cope with this stress and fear, and have to deal with, as Jack has said, online threats of...
Delyth Jewell: I also wanted to ask about accessibility, Minister, because obviously, we need to make it easier for people to actually use public transport. I note that you said that we need to make the right thing to do the easy thing to do. I welcome that, and I'd add to it as well: the safe thing to do. So, as well as making sure that we learn from what Sustrans say in terms of making sure that the first...
Delyth Jewell: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you, Minister, for your statement. I wanted to ask you in the first instance about public confidence in using public transport as a result of COVID. Research by Transport Focus shows that there's a clear difference between those who have been using public transport during the pandemic or recently and those who have not. The latter group are much more...
Delyth Jewell: Tomorrow will mark 55 years since the coal tip above Aberfan collapsed and killed a school full of children and teachers, and, in the 55 years since, the task of removing other coal tips from our mountainsides is still unfinished. I note that some have asked the Welsh Government to carry the burden of making these tips safe, a burden that should have been carried by Westminster decades ago....
Delyth Jewell: How is the Welsh Government supporting young people with mental health problems?
Delyth Jewell: I said that we can't afford to wait, but the declarations we've made and the conferences that await us afford us an opportunity to be radical, to be innovative and to be trailblazing, because urgency is required. The climate emergency is already hitting our communities hard. The Rhondda, Llanrwst, Ystrad Mynach—streets in almost every corner of our country have faced horrific floods. Homes...
Delyth Jewell: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Any emergency requires urgency in response. That is the message at the heart of our debate today, because an emergency is defined as requiring immediate action; it is what makes it an emergency. We in Wales have declared both nature and climate emergencies in recent years, but to date, enough action has not been taken to reinforce those declarations. I fear that...
Delyth Jewell: Can I start by saying that the commitment to 30x30 is welcome? It's very welcome indeed, Minister. It would be useful to have more detail. How will the Welsh Government fund progress towards this commitment, please, and what steps will you be taking to secure extra funding for habitat protection, restoration and creation, and of course the longer term need for the monitoring and maintenance...
Delyth Jewell: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for the statement also, Minister. I wanted to ask you about eco-anxiety or anxiety related to the climate change emergency, which is affecting an increasing number of young people. As you'll be aware, this is an issue that I've been trying to persuade the Government to act upon since the beginning of this Senedd. Academics at the University of Bath have...
Delyth Jewell: Trefnydd, the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board has introduced significant temporary changes to maternity services because of staff shortages. So, home birthing has been suspended and midwifery-led units in the Royal Gwent, Nevill Hall, Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan and Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr will be temporarily closed, centralising all birthing services at the Grange hospital in Cwmbran. The health...
Delyth Jewell: First Minister, loneliness has been a significant issue for thousands of people during the pandemic, and, as we enter the winter months, more people could feel even more isolated from friends and family. When people are lonely, they can be at greater risk of isolating themselves from services as well, and that can, in turn, be made worse if there are already barriers to accessing those...
Delyth Jewell: Children's happiness should surely be one of the metrics any Government or society takes most seriously. Now, it's not always easy to quantify happiness or to pinpoint how contentedness manifests itself, but, when patterns develop and take hold, we all have to take notice. Last year, a Cardiff University study was published that had interviewed children in 35 countries across the world. The...
Delyth Jewell: Thank you, Minister. Obviously, making commitments of this nature, they're symbolic, and so many of these principles that underpin the commitments are fundamentally important, so I won't make any apology for calling on you to make another commitment in my final question, in fact, which is about the declaration of the nature emergency that we as a Senedd made in June, which we were all so...
Delyth Jewell: Okay. I look forward to hearing that statement when it comes.
Delyth Jewell: I'll be asking the next question in Welsh, Minister. Over the past year, we've seen important commitments for nature on the UK level through the leaders' pledge for nature, the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, and the G7 2030 nature compact. The commitment is to safeguard 30 per cent of land and sea for nature by the year 2030. It's a key milestone. It's referred to as 30x30,...
Delyth Jewell: Minister, I'd like to ask you firstly about environmental governance. Environmental Standards Scotland has commenced its statutory role as an independent environmental governance body. Scotland has also put in place core environmental principles, with associated duties and guidance, and the Westminster Environment Bill is expected to pass this autumn with the office for environmental...
Delyth Jewell: [Inaudible.]
Delyth Jewell: Thank you very much. I have a series of questions here, Llywydd, not a speech. The committee hasn't discussed this issue amongst ourselves, and I'd like to emphasise that. This is an issue that will be of great interest, clearly, to many different cultural and sporting groups, so I'd like to ask the Minister, when she responds to the debate, to outline the rationale for introducing these...
