10. Plaid Cymru Debate: Climate Justice

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:04 pm on 18 September 2019.

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Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative 5:04, 18 September 2019

No, I'm not at all. At the end of the day, if this was on another issue, I'm sure Leanne Wood would be taking a separate view on this. But how can you force people—force people, because that's what you're doing and I used the example that was on the Jason Mohammad show this morning—to say that if you didn't engage in this strike action on Friday, you would be a climate change denier?

We have made huge progress on climate change and we need to continue, we need to continue to do that. And, in particular, the carbon-neutral target set for 2050; the support that we have given to industry to make the transition to green energy. Let's not forget that, many days now, the entire energy generation within the UK is coal-free and carbon-free and it is green energy that is powering that and that is real progress in the real economy that is happening.

And, so, instead of calling for disruptive action within the school setting, let us empower young people to actually engage in the journey that the whole of society—the whole of society—needs to take, and make sure that they stay part of this journey, because, ultimately, it will be every sector of society that will benefit from a better, cleaner environment that has climate change at its heart, because we know the clock is ticking and we know that the time is greatly limited to 11 or 12 years for us to make that significant action and that improvement in our environment. But we do not support the motion that's before us this afternoon, put down by Plaid Cymru, which in our view is merely chasing a headline.