Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:25 pm on 16 June 2021.
First of all, can I just pay a very sincere tribute to Huw Irranca-Davies for the role that he's played, both before he came to the Senedd, in Westminster as a Minister and as Chair of a select committee, and since he's come here? I worked very closely with him in the cross-party group on active travel in the last Senedd and I hope to continue to do so again. I think we've made real progress. That combination of challenge and support is very deftly deployed by him, and I look forward to continuing that relationship.
I'm optimistic about the way we tackle this challenge. Whether we deal with it or not is not a question; we must deal with it. It's an imperative; this is an existential crisis and threat to us all. So, there really is very little debate to be had about 'do we do it?', and I'm very pleased that some of the more absurd voices that were in this Chamber on this question are no longer here. So, at least, hopefully, we can all start from the starting point that the science is legitimate and this is a challenge that we need to engage with.
I'm very interested in doing this in a way that has additional benefits, because I think people will respond better—and the evidence suggests this is the case—if the measures that are required to respond to the scientific challenge of climate change also have other benefits that may be more immediate to their everyday lives; so, clean air, a better local environment, less traffic congestion—a whole range of things that we could mention—and warmer homes.
I think we should be highlighting the practical day-to-day benefits to make people's lives better, not just the doom and gloom if we don't do it. Clearly, that needs to be there for us, as policy makers, to focus our minds on the urgency of getting this done, but in communicating this to people I think we can all be optimistic that if we do this in the right way and in a just way, with proper urgency, we can unleash potential here that will make people's lives better.