Can I begin, also, by thanking my colleague Huw Irranca-Davies for bringing this debate forward today and the fellow Members from across the Chamber who also supported this legislative proposal? Plastic waste is one of the most visible symptoms of environmental damage and a legacy we must not be accused of leaving to our future generations. Our oceans, rivers, beaches, fields and hedgerows are all too often filled with discarded single-used plastics, as are the ecosystems they provide.

With this groundbreaking legislative proposal, we have a real opportunity to make Wales an international example of best practice when it comes to reducing single-use plastics. As individuals, there are changes that we can and we should all make to reduce our plastic waste, but it is my firm belief that we cannot achieve the huge reductions in single-use plastics that we need with individual action alone. This is not to negate it, but all too often it is used as excuse for a lack of legislative action.

So, this is an issue that we must all take extremely seriously, both as legislators and citizens, as part of the climate emergency that this Chamber and this Welsh Government have rightly declared. I believe, as does this Welsh Government, that for the sake of our future generations, we must take action immediately before the situation gets any worse, and I would therefore like to praise the actions being taken in my own constituency right now. Caerphilly council have pledged to spend every penny of the Welsh Government's period dignity grant for the borough only on plastic-free menstrual products. This example of positive public procurement, being led by Councillor Philippa Marsden and thanks to the Cardiff-based campaigner Ella Daish, is a fine example of how institutions in Wales can use their powerful procurement power to cut down on plastic waste and lead the way. Hygiene and sanitary products are often amongst the highest causes of single-use plastic waste, and any way in which we can incentivise voluntary switches to more environmentally friendly alternatives should be welcomed.

Government—local, regional, national and international—must do more than play a part. They must lead the way and fight the fight like never before. Though I know there are many examples of best practice across Wales, more often than not these are individual schemes, so this innovative and important Bill could help to facilitate both a holistic and a strategic approach in reducing plastic waste, and it should not be up to the Greta Thunbergs of this world to point out where nations lead and then be castigated for it.

We in Wales have fully recognised the urgency and declared—the first to do so—a climate emergency. For most in this Chamber, the debate has moved on. It is no longer why, but how we now deliver on our mandate. Immediately establishing national targets and an important cross-governmental action plan demonstrates how seriously we're taking the climate emergency so that Wales can become a world leader in reducing its consumption of single-use plastics. So, I urge all Members of this Chamber to recognise climate change and work with us in making that needed change, and move Wales out of climate emergency and into climate stability.