Delyth Jewell: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. When we think of the natural world, we think about abundance, don't we—lush forests, epic mountainsides, roaring rivers. But the natural world is made up of co-dependent ecosystems, food chains and habitats that interweave and interconnect, and once you start to chip away at any part of it, it has an indelible impact on the whole. Plaid Cymru has brought forward...
Delyth Jewell: I was saddened to hear this week that Bryn Seion chapel in Ystrad Mynach will be closing its doors for the last time on Sunday. The chapel has served the area since 1906, and has been a focal point of Welsh life not only in the town of Ystrad Mynach itself, but throughout the valley as a whole. It was a branch of the old chapel in Hengoed, and over many years generations of families marked...
Delyth Jewell: Counsel General, you've said that you will now bring forward an appeal to challenge this flagrant attack on Senedd competence. From day one, Plaid Cymru identified the threat to our hard-won democratic powers, and the reality is that there is a supermajority here in this Parliament to extend those powers, but the Westminster Government is denying that majority and that mandate. Their actions...
Delyth Jewell: Thank you, Minister. Wales now has the highest rate of child poverty of any UK nation, with one in three children living in poverty. I worry that we've become so used to hearing that figure that it's lost its potency, so just to remind the Chamber that what that figure—that one in three children figure—means is that thousands of children in Wales are going to bed hungry. They're going...
Delyth Jewell: 4. Will the Minister make a statement on child poverty rates in South Wales East? OQ56701
Delyth Jewell: I'd like to nominate Peredur Owen Griffiths.
Delyth Jewell: What an ill-starred anniversary this is. I won't use my contribution today to rehearse the lies that were told during the 2016 referendum—they are a matter of public record—but I do take exception to the tone of the latter half of the Conservative motion with its focus on opportunities, conveniently ignoring the power grab from Westminster under the internal market Act, and the EU...
Delyth Jewell: Will the Minister make a statement on efforts to improve animal welfare on Welsh farms?
Delyth Jewell: Minister, modal shift is going to be so significantly important in all of this, so what role will areas like fast lanes for public transport and electric vehicles on future roads—how important a role will that play? And, with reference to your point on maintaining existing roads, I'd like to draw your attention to the most recent UK climate change risk assessment. It points to a number of...
Delyth Jewell: Minister, thank you for your statement. We have an opportunity, after the pandemic, to build a nation that will benefit future generations, and investing in public transport, active travel and green infrastructure will be a crucial part of this. However, it is vital that we ensure that communities that have been waiting a long time for investment in infrastructure are not left behind. You...
Delyth Jewell: Trefnydd, on 25 June, we will mark Go Green Day, and the focus of the campaign is on tropical deforestation. That might sound like something that's far away, but the planet, as I'm sure you are aware, loses an area of forest every year equivalent to nine times the size of Wales because of our consumption of palm oil, soy, coffee, the paper that we write with, the timber that we build with....
Delyth Jewell: First Minister, the British Red Cross has found that loneliness is one of the most significant impacts of COVID-19 restrictions. Worryingly, their research also found that 37 per cent of people in Wales wouldn't be confident in knowing where to go for mental health and emotional support. Could I ask what your Government will do to address this, to ensure that health boards have the capacity...
Delyth Jewell: Come on, Wales, tonight. Good luck to the crew in Baku.
Delyth Jewell: At the outset, I'd like to wish the Wales men's football team the very best of luck for the game this evening against Turkey. Turkey may have close to a home crowd, but the hopes from our home nation are behind you, boys. Whatever happens, we know you'll do us proud. Pob lwc i chi i gyd. It's electric how these huge tournaments can lift people's mood, can give us all something to feel joyful...
Delyth Jewell: Turning to something that has already come up, actually, the emphasis in the Welsh Government's ambitions for the environment is largely focused on land-based solutions and a lot of it is on woodland creation. Of course, I welcome this, but as has already been mentioned, actually, I think that more emphasis needs to be put on our marine environment. Could you please, Minister, make a...
Delyth Jewell: Thank you for your statement, Deputy Minister, and for sharing a number of reports with us today. It's quite clear that we must tackle the nature emergency alongside the climate emergency, as we've already discussed, and we can't deal with one without dealing also with the other. But now, a number of environmental and nature groups are concerned about the funding of projects and policies by...
Delyth Jewell: Thank you for that response. I'm very eager that we address climate anxiety, which is affecting more and more schoolchildren. There is a danger that we as a society are causing this concern as a result of our approach to climate change in the media, but also in the classroom—talking about climate change as an inevitable crisis and a spectre of devastation on the horizon, come what may. And...
Delyth Jewell: Thank you, Minister. Finally, I'd like to ask about the Welsh Government's membership—or, rather, absence, apparently—of the UK Energy Research Centre's steering committee. That committee is undertaking a review of energy models being used across the UK by public bodies, universities and the energy industry. The Welsh Government's absence from that committee is notable, because it would...
Delyth Jewell: Could I ask you therefore, Minister, what will your Government be doing to respond to these concerns about overcrowding on public transport?
Delyth Jewell: Thank you, Minister. Collaboration will be very important in this area, I'm sure, across the Government but also across the parties. I sincerely hope that there will be things that we can collaborate on. Certainly, there will be areas where I will be pushing you to go further, I'm sure. I was very pleased that you talked about the stories and how we give the narrative on climate change, and...
