3. What action is the Welsh Government taking to help tackle the problem of climate change? OAQ(5)0030(FM)

Having brought forward the groundbreaking Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 to provide Wales with the legislation to effectively tackle climate change, we are now committed to fully implementing them.

Thank you for that response. It’s obvious that climate change is already having an impact on many of our communities, particularly in Mid and West Wales, with areas such as Powys and Talybont suffering from flooding. Would the First Minister agree that it would be of benefit to Wales to ensure that we respect European laws that demand that we have renewable energy and that we should adhere to those targets, and that it makes sense for us to collaborate with our European neighbours, and that that is yet another reason why people should vote to remain as part of the European Union on 23 June?

That’s entirely right. It is true to say that the UK has been dragged into ensuring that the environment is cleaned up and to ensure that our rivers, seas and air is cleaner than it was 30 years ago. I remember, as someone who was a keen fisherman as a boy, that the River Taff was virtually empty. By now, of course, we have salmon swimming up the Taff and that just shows how much good has been done for our environment because of the European legislation that has ensured that the UK does have a far cleaner environment than it had in the past.

First Minister, the woman responsible for the Conference of the Parties discussions in Paris, Christiana Figueres, visited Wales last week. She came to speak at the Hay Festival and she spoke very eloquently on the need for Government, businesses and the voluntary sector, if you like, the civic society, to collaborate in order to achieve the dream of the Paris negotiations.

She also said clearly that an increase of 2 per cent—I apologise, an increase of 2 degrees Celsius in temperature, according to the insurance industry itself, was systematically uninsurable. And therefore Paris, of course, is trying to achieve 1.5 degrees as the biggest increase possible. Are you as a Government, therefore, committed to an increase of no more than 1.5 degrees?

This is something that we will have to consider, of course. It is very important that we ensure that action takes place worldwide. We can play our part, of course—we have done so because of the legislation that has been passed. But also, there is no point for us to reduce what we are doing about climate change if things get worse in another country. So, that’s why it’s so important to ensure that action takes place worldwide and that we play a vital role in that.

May I interrupt the First Minister? There was a problem with the interpretation, but it appears to be back now. So, I apologise for interrupting you, but for a minute, you were only heard in one language. So, if you could perhaps just repeat some of what you have just said—

I must now remember what I said. [Laughter.]

And try to ensure that you say the same thing the second time. [Laughter.]

It’s extremely important that we play our part in Wales. It’s also important, of course, that every country in the world plays its part. There’s no point in us taking action alone, and that’s why it’s important that we have action on a global level and that we in Wales play a vital role.

Perfect. Thank you very much. Russell George.

First Minister, the connection between air pollution and ill health, and even premature death, is well known. With this in mind, I wonder if you could update me on what the Welsh Government is doing to improve air quality across Wales, particularly in our large cities in the future.

Well, one way of improving the environment, of course, and indeed emissions, is to invest more in sustainable energy, which I know is a particular issue in his part of the world. It is obvious that there are some forms of energy that are far less polluting than others, and that’s the way that we have to go and the world has to go in the future. One way, of course, of investing further in terms of reducing carbon emissions is investment in public transport. The south-east Wales metro is an example of that, as will other metro systems be across Wales, in Swansea and indeed in the north-east of Wales to begin with.

There are also other ways, of course, in which emissions can be reduced. For example, where you have problems with traffic, where traffic is idling for some time or moving slowly on a particular road, then a bypass helps. I’m sure he will know that, of course, given the fact that the Newtown bypass is moving forward. That will help to reduce emissions, I’m sure, in his constituency.