3. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change: Climate Change

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:38 pm on 16 June 2021.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 2:38, 16 June 2021

Thank you very much, Joyce Watson. I wasn't aware of the project that you refer to in Pembrokeshire; it sounds very interesting and I'd like to find out more about it, and to properly answer your question about what lessons can be learned from it. So, if you're willing, I will go away, find out more and write to you about that. 

I completely agree, as I set out earlier, that the potential of natural carbon stores is something that we need to be properly harnessing. As I mentioned, NRW are currently mapping areas of marine and coastal habitats, including those that store and sequester blue carbon to understand their potential and the opportunities for restoration of these important habitats, and that includes seagrass. 

And, also, in terms of peat land restoration, I also agree with the points she made there. We have funded a five-year peat land action programme to restore peat land, with a budget of £1 million a year. The project is funded from 2020 to 2025, and aims to restore 600 to 800 hectares of peat per annum, and there will be a full review of that programme for us to learn what's gone well and how we become more ambitious with it, and I would be very pleased to work with her on both those areas to see what even more we can do.