8. Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs: The Climate Emergency

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:51 pm on 1 July 2020.

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Photo of Llyr Gruffydd Llyr Gruffydd Plaid Cymru 3:51, 1 July 2020

Well, tree planting wasn't disappointing, Minister—it's quite embarrassing, to be frank. But there we are. And there's a lot of catching up to be done, and I'm not convinced that the current trajectory that you're offering is going to be enough. But I hadn't appreciated that we're limited to such an extent on time, so I'll have to move on.

You talk a good game very often, and you've been doing so on the circular economy for a number of years now. This Government could have introduced a deposit-return scheme years ago if it had wished to do, but you haven't. We're still waiting for decisions on banning single-use plastic. We're still waiting on decisions to be done around introducing greater producer responsibility. So, give us a date, Minister. Tell us when we will see these being implemented instead of being talked about, as you have been doing for the last 10 years. 

I welcome the reference to 76 houses, of course—the net zero carbon homes—being built in Ruthin, as you can imagine. But, of course, we're way behind the curve on an international level in that respect. So, what's happening to mainstream these housing techniques and these kinds of houses into the developments that are happening, and not still being referred to as these novel projects that you can flag up in oral statements now and again? 

Could you tell us what role the Welsh Government will be playing to support the proposed tidal lagoon that's been announced today at Mostyn? I'd like to understand the role that Government is playing to make that a reality, particularly following the bad news in relation to the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon. We need to look now to Mostyn to try and unlock some of that potential that we know we have around the Welsh coast.

And, finally, the Welsh Government's energy service. Well, it's all about scale and pace, isn't it, and I've raised this with you before. What plans have you got to ramp up some of this work, because, since its establishment in 2018, of course, this Parliament has declared a climate emergency. So, in the meantime, has its work intensified? Because we know that achieving a 20 per cent efficiency saving across Welsh domestic housing stock will need to target 870,000 households, at a cost of £5 billion. So, are we still going to bump along, or are we serious about the transitional change that we need to see?