I'd like to thank the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee for their report. Climate change is the biggest threat facing our planet, and those who deny its impact or our role in creating it have thankfully been relegated to the fringe, along with the other crackpot conspiracy theorists, such as the flat-earthers or those who believe that lunar landings were fake. Climate change is real. It is a clear and present danger, and we must do all we can to mitigate its impact on humanity.

Just under three years ago, 195 members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. This week, we learned it was already too late for many cities in Europe and that that threshold has already been breached. In fact, every major city in Europe is getting warmer. Closer to home, we learned that the A487 in Newgale is under threat and could disappear in 20 years because of climate change. Pembrokeshire council are having to look at alternative routes.

The Welsh Government set ambitious targets for climate change mitigation by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but sadly it appears these targets won't be met. I would like to thank the committee for highlighting that the Government's reasons for missing the targets should have been factored into the policies from the outset, and welcome their fourth recommendation, which will ensure that future policies are not as shortsighted. The committee rightly highlight the role that forestry and woodland play in mitigating climate change, and are right to question the Welsh Government's planting targets. If we leave the EU, there may be an opportunity to reshape our forestry and agriculture policies to take account of climate change. The common agricultural policy could then, for the future, focus on land management that encourages carbon sinks and flood management. 

On transport, the committee have highlighted the lack of progress being made on modal shift. There is little evidence that the Welsh Government is committed to the shift to electric vehicles. Caerphilly council have just unveiled plans to ensure that all public transport in the county is electric powered and are looking to introduce greater numbers of electric vehicle charging points. This is the sort of activity that the Welsh Government should be promoting and ensuring it is replicated across Wales. In Aberdeen, excess energy from wind and solar is being used to create hydrogen, which is used to run a fleet of buses. The Welsh Government need now to set an example and highlight alternatives to petrol and diesel.

I would like to thank the committee once again for their report and hope the Welsh Government will adopt their recommendations. Diolch yn fawr.