Diolch. I am pleased to be able to contribute to today's debate on behalf of the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee. The regulations were laid on 9 February. The following day, we wrote to the Minister in accordance with Standing Order 27.8 to notify her we would be reporting on the regulations. We are grateful to the Minister for delaying the debate on the regulations by a week to enable us to report. However, we still have wider concerns about the regulation-making process, including a lack of opportunity for external scrutiny of the proposed carbon targets.

To inform our scrutiny of the regulations, we took evidence from Lord Deben, chair of the Climate Change Committee, and representatives from Friends of the Earth and WWF Cymru. We'd like to thank them for their contribution and for agreeing to give evidence at short notice. The environmental non-governmental organisations told us they would have liked to have seen a wider discussion on the proposed carbon targets, and more time made available for scrutiny of them. Committee called for exactly that when it reported on the first set of climate change regulations in 2018. In our report, we recommended that the Welsh Government consider a draft of any future regulations to facilitate Senedd and external scrutiny, and we are disappointed the Welsh Government chose not to do this.

Turning to the detail of the regulations in our report on the 2018 regulations, we highlighted that Wales's target to reduce emissions by 80 per cent to 1990 levels by 2050 was insufficient to meet the aims of the Paris agreement. The 2021 regulations rectify this, setting a target to achieve net zero by 2050, more ambitious interim targets and tighter carbon budgets. The new net-zero targets brings Wales in line with the other UK nations, which we very much welcome. This is particularly timely as the UK prepares to jointly host the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, COP26, in November.

However, representatives of the environment sector told us that there is potential for Wales to demonstrate greater ambition, and go even further than the targets set out in the 2021 regulations. We believe there is merit in revisiting the targets in due course, in particular to ensure they fully reflect the social, economic and environmental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Setting more ambitious targets is the easy part; achieving those targets will be, by the Welsh Government's own admission, extraordinarily challenging. The CCC's latest progress report points out that Wales is not currently on track to achieve an 80 per cent reduction, let alone net zero by 2050. The CCC has made it clear that to achieve net zero, action is required across all areas and all sectors without delay.

We know that the net-zero targets will be crucial in the fight against climate change. While Welsh Government has talked about redoubling efforts and increasing the scale and rate of policy effort, it must now deliver on those promises. We expect the next low-carbon delivery plan, due in November 2021, to reflect the new and more ambitious targets set out in the 2021 regulations. The plan will be critical not only to ensure that the 2021-25 carbon budget is met, but that the 2030 interim target can be achieved.

Given the significance of the plan, it is inconceivable that stakeholders and Members of the Senedd would not be given an opportunity to consider the plan before it is finalised. As yet, the Welsh Government has been unwilling to commit to consulting on its draft of the plan. We ask the Welsh Government to reconsider this decision and give a commitment in principle to do this. 

Finally, our scrutiny of the 2018 and 2021 regulations and our wider climate change work have highlighted key weaknesses in the statutory framework for carbon emission reduction. Our report on the 2021 regulations touches on how these weaknesses can be addressed. We believe there's a more substantive piece of work to do to review the statutory framework, with a view to introducing more rigorous scrutiny procedures, improving transparency, and strengthening accountability arrangements. We intend to include this in our legacy report, for our successor committee in the sixth Senedd to consider.

We are pleased to recommend to the Senedd that it approves the regulations. It will be a matter for the sixth Senedd to ensure that the promise of action to achieve the new targets is delivered. Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd.