If you're leaving the Chamber, please do so quickly and quietly.

We now move to the short debate, and I call on Lee Waters to speak on the topic he has chosen. Lee.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm pleased to give a minute of my time to Jenny Rathbone.

The science is unequivocal: the link between human activity and rising global temperatures is as strong and as certain as the link between smoking and cancer, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The Paris climate change agreement set a target of no more than 2 degrees centigrade global warming above pre-industrial temperatures by the end of the century. It also set an aspirational target of no more than 1.5 degrees centigrade. We're currently on track for more than 3 degrees centigrade global warming by the end of the century. We're likely to burn through the rest of the aspirational carbon budget within the next three to 10 years and reach 1.5 degrees of warming by 2040.

Now, 1.5 degrees doesn't sound like much, but it translates to more frequent and more extreme weather events, such as storms, heatwaves and flooding—the kind of events that have a severe impact on human life. The difference between 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees of global warming is the difference between an Arctic that is free of ice once per decade, or once per century. It's the difference between the complete collapse of the world's coral reefs or the loss or around 30 per cent of this life-sustaining ecosystem.

To avert this potential catastrophe, the world must embark on a determined effort to transition away from fossil fuels as a source of energy. We can mobilise for war, we can recapitalise global banks with a massive programme of quantitative easing and so we can recalibrate to mitigate man-made climate change, if we chose to. The simple takeaway from this science is that the faster we cut carbon emissions, the less severe the impacts of rising global temperatures. Thankfully, much of the means of cutting our emissions already exist. We can act now. This means that a key priority for Wales must be transitioning our energy system to renewable sources. By energy, I mean the electricity we use to light our offices and power our televisions, as well as the energy we use to power our vehicles and heat our homes.

We must begin, like Germany and Denmark, by targeting a decrease in our energy demand, by increasing efficiency and eliminating waste. We can then start to decarbonise electricity. The Welsh Government's target is to produce 70 per cent of our electricity from renewables by 2030. We currently produce just 42 cent of our electricity from renewables and we need to move faster. We only have 12 years left to meet our target.

The technologies and means to do this already exist, and, as stark as the science might be, there are huge opportunities for Wales. We can be a leader in the development and deployment of wave and tidal renewables. There are firms in north Wales and south Wales developing industry-leading solutions to the key problems of at-sea renewable deployment. We need to ensure that we capitalise on our potential in this sector, quite unlike the story of wind energy, where Wales was once a world leader but fell behind and lost out on the valuable manufacturing and intellectual property that emerged.

But the most immediate opportunities still lie onshore, in wind and solar and even biomass—tried and tested technologies that are easy to build and maintain and, therefore, relatively low cost. We are close to a point where onshore renewables can operate without a subsidy, ending concerns that green energy will artificially inflate household bills. The cost for new renewables is now significantly below that of nuclear, and competitive with new gas power stations. This is game changing.

One of the UK’s most significant and underutilised wind resources is in rural Wales, but there is only opportunity to build out a small number of projects due to a constrained grid. The lack of grid capacity restricts other opportunities too. At the moment, most of rural Wales will not be able to put in place significant electric vehicle charging, renewable heating or even build new employment because we can’t transport enough electricity, and we risk isolating the people of rural Wales, and part of my own constituency, from changing technology and new opportunities.

It’s reported that storage of more than 1 MW capacity can’t be installed in Wales until the latter half of the next decade. This capacity is needed to support high generation and use of renewables. And until we sort this, I don’t see how we’ll be able to meet our target of producing 70 per cent of electricity from renewables by 2030. And more to the point, if we can’t accelerate this timetable, it might be too late to prevent catastrophic global warming. The new National Infrastructure Commission for Wales should consider the grid as a priority as should the national development framework being developed by the Welsh Government. To unlock funding to build this grid, could the public sector, through pension funds and other investments, invest in the grid? Instead of maxing out our borrowing capacity on building a mega-road that will lock in further emissions increases and build through protected wetlands, which are after all a carbon sink, we should prioritise projects that help us meet our commitments to future generations, not blow them out of the water. And it could help us here and now. Enabling renewable energy generation will create a stable, long-term economic return for the people of Wales. 

So, we must withdraw funding from dirty energy. Welsh local government pension funds currently have over £1 billion invested in fossil fuels, money that could be put to far better use supporting a new green economy in Wales. New research by the Institute of Welsh Affairs suggests that we could create 3,500 jobs just in the Swansea bay city region, which includes the Llanelli constituency, by switching to a 100 per cent renewable electricity network, and most of this work would be long-term roles in operation and maintenance.

The IWA has been carrying out extensive research into what practical steps would be needed to turn Wales into a country that meets all its energy needs from renewable sources. That's the kind of bold response we need to see to the warning of the Paris agreement. It's all very well us passing symbolic legislation and being showcased at the UN; it's action that counts—action for the long term that produces tangible benefits in the short term too. 

The IWA research suggests that the economic benefits of refitting housing to a higher energy efficiency standard is around £1.6 billion over a 15-year period. Because the firms that would carry out this work are locally rooted in the foundational economy, these benefits are likely to be retained in and by our communities. We already have world leading expertise in sustainable building in our universities, in our housing associations and in our private sector, and we should use this to ensure that all new builds in Wales meet stringent standards for carbon emissions. So, I'm pleased that the Minister for housing has announced funding of £4 million for an innovative green housing project in Burry Port in my constituency.

Of course, this isn't just about electricity and heat; it's also about transport. We must decarbonise our transport system. The more immediate and effective solution is to break the dependency on private transport, moving people to public transport and active travel for short journeys. Getting more people walking and cycling have all sorts of wider benefits to the health and well-being of the nation too. It's the solution that makes sense at all sorts of levels.

As significant and important an innovation as electric vehicles are, they aren't the answer to this problem without a transformed electricity system. All that said, Welsh Government should set out an ambition to end the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles in the UK. The UK Government has announced a ban by 2040, with other European countries going much earlier. Let's set our aspiration higher and let's leverage the auto sector we have based in Wales to turn this into an opportunity. Welsh Government is working on a new Welsh transport strategy, and it must surely place at its heart the need to decarbonise the transport sector, not just in the words at the front but in the actions at the back. And there is a need to ensure that the energy we do use for transport comes from renewable sources, be that electricity, hydrogen or biofuels.

Wales can use this climate crisis as an opportunity to become a world leader, not just in words but in the deployment of renewable technologies and decarbonisation of the energy system. The timescale is pressing and we need to act, but there are opportunities to improve the lives of Welsh citizens as we do it. Diolch.

We have lots of warm words on this, and the Cabinet Secretary has set a challenging 70 per cent target for generating renewable energy for Wales. But we now need to transfer words into action, not least for future generations. Up to now, the planning system has been used to undermine the enthusiasm of citizens who want to do the right things, and most have succumbed under the welter of problems that have been put in their way. Yesterday, we had an encouraging list of innovative housing awards across Wales, which will deliver zero-carbon affordable homes for some 600 households. We need to do more and better. We need to change the planning rules, the building regulations, to ensure that future homes all meet these challenging zero-carbon emissions, which is what Gordon Brown endeavoured to introduce back in 2007 but was torn up by the UK Government in 2015. I recently attended a meeting with Welsh Water, who informed us there was nothing they could do to capture grey water for reuse until the building regulations change to ensure that grey water is separated when it comes off the roof and the roads, so that it doesn't just go into the sea. So, I would urge the Cabinet Secretary to give us a timescale of when we can amend the building regulations to meet the ambitions that we need to deliver on for the sake of our grandchildren.

Can I now call the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs to reply to the debate? Lesley Griffiths.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you, Lee, for bringing forward this short debate today. I'd also like to welcome the work of the Institute of Welsh Affairs' Re-energising Wales project. The work considers how we could meet 100 per cent of our energy demand from renewables by 2035, and the benefits this could offer for Wales. I await the outcomes of their research with interest.

Last year I set an ambitious target of generating 70 per cent of Wales's energy consumption from renewable sources. Achieving 100 per cent renewable generation would be very challenging and could leave us relying on our neighbours to keep the lights on in Wales.

Last week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a very hard-hitting report on the impacts of global warming. This highlighted how limiting warming to 1.5 degrees rather than 2 degrees would offer multiple benefits for food and water supplies, human health and the environment. To limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, the IPCC recommend we need to scale up renewable generation rapidly to provide around 85 per cent of the world's electricity by 2050. This would be supported by nuclear and fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage. IPCC state gas is likely to generate around 80 per cent of electricity worldwide to provide flexibility and security. Limiting emissions would require carbon capture and storage, and this technology is as yet unproven.

In its national infrastructure assessment, the UK National Infrastructure Commission recommended the energy system should be running off at least 50 per cent renewable generation by 2030, as part of a transition to a highly renewable generation mix. The commission's modelling showed delivering a low-carbon electricity system for 2050, powered mainly by renewables, is a low-cost option.

In Wales, we are already acting on climate change through the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, where we have legislated to reduce emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050. I will be asking the Assembly to approve our interim emissions targets to 2050 and our first two carbon budgets later this year. Our focus is now on the actions we need to take to deliver against our targets. We are developing our evidence base to inform the development of our first low-carbon delivery plan, which will be published in March next year.

I've raised concerns with the UK Government about their decision to exclude onshore wind and solar technologies from contracts for difference, the proposed closure of the feed-in tariff, and the lack of funding to support wave and tidal technologies. These support mechanisms have driven the mass uptake of renewable generation and enabled dramatic cost reductions. We need the UK Government to review the current subsidy regime so it reflects the importance of onshore wind and solar to an affordable energy mix.

In Wales, we're working to promote and enable renewable energy and this work is taking effect. Renewables generated enough electricity to meet 43 per cent of consumption in Wales in 2016, and indications are this has risen further to 48 per cent in 2017. This summer, the Minister for Environment attended the inauguration of the Brechfa Forest West windfarm and launched the £460,000 annual community investment fund. The Welsh Government woodland estate also hosts Pen y Cymoedd, which is the largest onshore wind project in England and Wales. In addition to the work the Crown estate, with whom I met this morning, is undertaking for potential new leasing, it has also identified potential for an extension to the existing Gwynt y Môr offshore windfarm.

Renewable energy generation on its own, however, does nothing to decrease our carbon emissions. We must remove fossil fuel generation in order to decarbonise. Currently, Wales hosts 19 per cent of the UK's gas-fired electricity generation capacity. However, we use less than 6 per cent of the UK's total electricity. Eighty-two per cent of the electricity generated in Wales last year was from coal and gas. We are considering how much gas generation Wales should host in the future and the levers we have available to manage this. Decisions on future nuclear plants will be taken at a UK Government level. Wylfa Newydd will provide valuable low-carbon base-load energy for the UK system. However, if Wales is to host such strategic energy projects, they must provide wider economic, social and environmental benefits to Wales. 

Moving towards clean energy also requires action to move away from fossil fuel extraction. I'm committed to taking action to prevent Wales being locked into further fossil fuel extraction through onshore unconventional oil and gas, such as shale or coal-bed methane.

By the end of this year, I will be launching a comprehensive update of 'Planning Policy Wales'. In response to Jenny Rathbone's question, I'll be doing PPW's revised edition before the end of this term. As you know, we are looking at a review of building regulations that will go into early next year. As part of the revision of PPW, I will strengthen planning policy in relation to the extraction of onshore unconventional oil and gas. PPW will be a key part of our stronger national policy to promote renewable energy. I want local planning authorities to see renewable resources as valuable assets. We've introduced new requirements for local authorities to identify areas for new wind and solar generation and to set local targets for renewable energy in their plans.

The national development framework and the national marine plan for Wales provide us with an opportunity to consider the infrastructure we need to deliver a decarbonsied economy. For the NDF, we are working to identify onshore wind and solar resources in Wales, the impacts of harnessing them, and the most appropriate areas for generation to be encouraged. Similarly, for the marine plan, policies will be developed to harness sustainable marine renewable energy. However, given the electricity that Wales already exports, new generation must deliver sufficient benefit to justify Wales hosting it. 

Research undertaken by the Centre for Low Carbon Futures, across a range of global city regions, shows significant export of economic value simply by paying energy bills. In the UK regions studied, this was between 5.9 per cent and 18 per cent of gross value added being exported. Locally owned generation provides a strong opportunity to retain money in the local economy, contributing to prosperity. This is why I set a target for 1 GW of locally owned electricity generation by 2030 and an expectation for all new developments to have an element of local ownership from 2020. Our policy position on renewable energy must deliver the purpose of retaining benefit locally whilst not acting as a barrier to new generation. Our call for evidence on local ownership closed in the spring and I will publish our response next month. 

We will be supporting regional energy planning through the energy atlas. This will be a tool to help local authorities and others realise the central role of decarbonisation in planning for the future of their areas. Regional energy planning will need to encompass electricity, heat and future developments, such as increasing demand for power from electric vehicles. The roll-out of electric vehicles requires infrastructure, as Lee Waters referred to, and we are working with the National Grid and two distribution network operators in Wales to support their work to understand the impacts of expanding the charging infrastructure in Wales. 

We also need to understand more about how a smart and interconnected energy system will work in practice. We are fortunate in Wales having SPECIFIC and FLEXIS—EU-funded initiatives that have brought together expertise from our universities to inform innovative developments in energy positive buildings and smart living. We are complementing this with our work on the smart living demonstrators.

I've proposed a debate, Deputy Presiding Officer, for 20 November, during which I would like us to explore what role Wales should play in the UK and global energy marketplace. It would be helpful to explore the levels of generation Members think we should be looking for. This is important as we will need collectively to exhibit strong leadership to deliver these changes and secure maximum benefits for the people of Wales. Diolch.

Thank you very much. That brings today's proceedings to a close. Thank you.

The meeting ended at 18:24.