Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 12:56 pm on 16 June 2021.
Thank you, Presiding Officer. Minister, I will be asking my first two questions in Welsh. May I welcome you to your new role? I look forward to being able to work with you on this vital topic.
It is clear that Wales is facing a climate emergency, and a climate emergency was declared during the fifth Senedd. But the crisis that we are facing is not just about the climate. There is also a nature and biodiversity emergency as well. Indeed, it was disappointing that there were no statutory targets on biodiversity loss in the programme for government that the First Minister published, because the situation is an emergency. Last week, 50 of the world's leading scientists said that we must solve these two emergencies together—nature and the climate—or we will not succeed in solving either of them. Surely now the Welsh Government must give the same level of attention to the nature emergency as is being given to the climate emergency.
Therefore, could I ask first whether you agree that there is a need to declare a nature emergency? And can you make a statement on the possibility of developing and introducing nature recovery targets that will reverse the deterioration in nature by 2030?