As a Government, we support the ambition of Welsh farmers to be the most climate and nature-friendly in the world, an ambition that will be given greater impetus by addressing the damage being caused by widespread agricultural pollution year after year. I fully recognise that many are farming to high environmental standards, but we must make more rapid progress on reducing pollution from agriculture across the whole industry and across the whole of Wales.

Despite the significant publicity these new regulations have attracted, and the restrictions on NRW's ability to investigate suspected incidences of pollution due to COVID-19, there have been 76 substantiated agricultural pollution incidents so far this year, which, on average, remain above three per week. This continued disregard for the negative impact on our environment and society is unacceptable.

Levels of pollution caused by nitrates, phosphorus and ammonia exceed critical thresholds across Wales, and reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture are needed to tackle the climate change emergency. These pollutants are detrimental to the quality of our environment, public health and economic development. 

The control of agricultural pollution regulations, which are comparable to those in the rest of the UK and Europe, require the use of farming practices that are proven to deliver benefits to the environment and farm productivity. Many farmers understand the need for action and are already taking steps to maintain high environmental standards on their farms. Welsh farmers are more than capable of working to these baseline standards and many already exceed them.

Before the industry can claim to be the most climate and nature-friendly in the world, all of our farms must first adopt recognised good-practice standards of production. The regulations apply in a phased approach over a period of three years, providing farmers with time to adapt and improve, and we will continue to support them to do so.

A wide range of support tools continue to be delivered through the Farming Connect advisory service to help farm businesses tackle pollution issues and to support the implementation of the control of agricultural pollution regulations. With the support of Farming Connect, over 5,000 farm businesses have developed nutrient management, infrastructure and business plans, and over 2,500 farm businesses have attended Farming Connect events focused on the steps that they can take to reduce agricultural emissions. 

We have seen strong interest in the recent application windows for the sustainable production grants and yard coverings schemes. This includes support for simple, cost-effective solutions for improved manure management, such as clean and dirty water separation. These schemes are part of the £44.5 million the Welsh Government has already made available to support sustainable farming practices. Future funding support will be determined when budgets have been agreed following the UK Government's comprehensive spending review.

The regulations are in line with the environmental principles promoted by Members of the Senedd, by adopting a precautionary polluter-pays approach. The approach we have taken is not just about nitrate pollution, as James Evans seems to think. It recognises and integrates the advice of the UK Climate Change Committee and the NFU's ambition to reach net-zero emissions in Wales and across the UK. The control of agricultural emissions is an integral part of achieving this target.

The approach also recognises the impact of ammonia emissions on sensitive habitats and public health. It recognises the impact of phosphorus on our river special areas of conservation, including on economic development in those areas. We cannot tackle our nature emergency without tackling all of these pollutants.

We are making progress on these issues, and a single set of clear baseline standards will enable us to secure that progress and make the further advances we urgently need to make. I'd like to remind Russell George and other Members that NRW publicly welcomed all of the all-Wales regulations.

There is no doubt that adapting to these baseline standards will be challenging for some in the industry, and I recognise that every farm business is different and there may be other ways of achieving our objective of reducing emissions and of protecting people and nature in Wales. It's for this reason that I have provided the industry with the opportunity to develop alternative measures, and provision has been made for this in the regulations. I want to continue to work with all of our stakeholders to ensure any alternative measures will work effectively for farm businesses and the environment upon which we all rely. So, I call on all stakeholders again, including the farming unions, who have long advocated an alternative approach, to put forward viable proposals for alternative measures that will deliver equal or greater reductions in pollution. Any approach must be established in law. Voluntary approaches play an important role in safeguarding our environment, but statutory baseline standards are an essential component.

This Government fully recognises agriculture is not the only cause of pollution. Regulating to protect the environment from agricultural pollution brings the sector into closer alignment with other industries where a high level of regulation applies. Welsh farming must embrace its future and take advantage of trade opportunities, and to do that, it needs to adopt a sustainable approach with appropriate standards of production, and the new regulatory baseline helps protect our trading position for the future prosperity of the agricultural industry. The regulations were robustly scrutinised before they came into force, but I do support the call from Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru for further consideration by the relevant committee on the effective implementation of regulations to strengthen the resilience of our farming communities and strengthen the resilience of the natural environment. So, it's for these reasons I propose replacing the first point of the motion and will vote to retain the second, if the amendments are adopted. Diolch.