Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm very pleased Plaid Cymru have brought forward this debate, following the publication of the UN intergovernmental panel on climate change. I absolutely agree with Llyr Huws Gruffydd, in his opening remarks, that climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity.

Our environment Act requires Welsh Ministers to ensure that emissions in Wales are at least 80 per cent below the 1990 baseline by 2050. One of the Government's amendments recognises the challenges of decarbonisation, given our economic profile. Over the past two and a half years, our focus has been on establishing a regulatory and policy framework to meet our statutory commitment, based on significant stakeholder engagement and advice from our statutory advisers.

Our approach to climate change must be informed by scientific knowledge, so I welcome the IPCC report. It is the best assessment of all existing knowledge on the subject, critically assessing thousands of studies from across the world. I've written to the UK Government to approve a joint commission for advice from our statutory advisers, the UK Committee on Climate Change, on the implications of the evidence. The report will be published before the end of March next year.

In December, I will be asking the Assembly to agree the interim targets and first two carbon budgets for Wales. These are consistent with the advice from the UKCCC, and they will set the context for delivering the actions that we need to take as a Government. There is much cross-party consensus on this agenda and the actions that need to be taken, and this is encouraging for us as a society. I agree with much of the sentiment in the motion by Plaid Cymru. However, I cannot support the motion, as to do so would predetermine decisions, particularly around the M4 and petroleum extraction, which need to follow due process.

Decarbonising our power sector is particularly challenging, and we need a mix of generation sources and technologies to enable us to adapt. The Welsh Government believes that nuclear is a part of the mix in terms of generating significant low-carbon energy, and this is why we oppose amendment 2 from Neil McEvoy. However, since coming into this role, I've set an ambitious target of generating 70 per cent of Wales's energy consumption from renewable sources. Renewables generated enough electricity to meet 43 per cent of consumption in Wales in 2016, and indications are that this has risen further, to 48 per cent, in 2017. We also set targets around community and local ownership to ensure that we capture the benefits for Wales from the transition to a low-carbon energy system.

Our first low-carbon delivery plan, which will be published in March, will set out the actions, policies and proposals that we will be taking to reduce emissions and support low-carbon growth across a range of sectors, including transport, buildings and land use. We are already undertaking a range of actions in these areas, and therefore while I am encouraged that the Conservatives are thinking along similar lines, I cannot support their amendment 3, and would like to bring forward a Government amendment that recognises the significant actions to date.

We are already making good progress. For example, the emissions reduction targets I am proposing for Wales are more ambitious than our counterparts across the UK, and close to the maximum that is technically feasible for Wales. We've put decarbonisation at the front and centre of Welsh Government policy, including it as one of our six cross-cutting priorities in the national strategy. It's also a central pillar within our economic action plan for Wales. I've set out my ambition for a carbon neutral public sector in Wales. In support of this, we committed £28 million of zero-interest capital loans in 2017-18, adding to the £27 million in the previous two years. This investment will realise savings of £183 million for the public sector over the life of the installed technologies and also reduce carbon emissions by 820,000 tonnes.

In Welsh Government’s 'Taking Wales Forward', we make clear our opposition to fracking. And we now have the powers around fracking, and, over the summer, I held a public consultation on petroleum extraction in Wales, which set out not only a policy to oppose fracking, but also proposed that there should be no new petroleum licensing in Wales. We believe the further development of new petroleum sources runs counter to the ambitions identified in the well-being goals and our commitment to a low-carbon future. And, following the consultation, I will be making a statement by the end of this term confirming our position.

We’ve recently announced plans for a new £5 billion rail service, which will lead to a 25 per cent reduction in carbon emissions on the Wales and borders network, and plans to develop a new Wales transport strategy that can support an integrated, multimodal and low-carbon transport network across Wales.

Since 2011, we’ve invested more than £240 million in the Welsh Government Warm Homes programme, which includes Nest and Arbed, improving the energy efficiency of more than 45,000 homes, and agreed further investment of £104 million for the period 2017 to 2021. I’m reviewing Part L of building regulation standards to increase the required energy efficiency of new homes. Whilst one of the aims is to deliver as a minimum nearly zero energy—required by the EU directive—I will consider imposing more stringent standards to meet our ambitions.

The disinvestment debate can be a powerful way of engaging individuals, investment funds, and wider society on this issue. Fund managers need to think carefully about what they are investing in, in terms of integrity, risk of ongoing investment in fossil fuel sectors, and potentially missed opportunities from not investing in low-carbon sectors. The global direction is now very clear. It is crucial that we continue to drive momentum in this important area, and I would welcome all of your support in helping facilitate the changes required across Wales. Diolch.