Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 5 October 2021.

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Photo of Paul Davies Paul Davies Conservative 1:43, 5 October 2021

Well, First Minister, you were doing some of that before then, anyway, and the reality is that not enough has been done since that declaration to seriously address climate change in Wales. Progress to date has not been fast enough to ensure that Wales will have net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. And let me remind you that a report by the committee on climate change told us that Wales was not on track for its previous 80 per cent target, let alone net zero. There are towns and cities in Wales that have reported illegal and dangerous levels of air pollution in recent years, and air pollution is thought to contribute to over 2,000 premature deaths. But we're yet to see a clean air Act, despite it being one of your own leadership manifesto commitments back in 2018. And, on top of that, one of your own Ministers has admitted we're way behind where we need to be on tree planting targets, with only 80 hectares of new woodland planted in 2019-20—the lowest number for a decade. 

And flooding continues to have an enormous impact on our communities. The Rhondda Fawr village of Pentre was hit by flooding on five separate occasions in 2020, for example, and today it's been reported that fire services in south, mid and west Wales have been inundated with flood calls. So, First Minister, can you name one flood-risk community in Wales that is now safer because of Welsh Government intervention since your declaration, and can you tell us how the Welsh Government is prioritising climate change, given that communities are still facing the devastating impact of flooding and given that your Government has failed to reach any significant targets to address climate change since you declared a climate emergency?