Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 2:10 pm on 6 October 2021.
Thank you very much, Minister. It's true to say that there is general support for the Welsh Government's aim of seeing Wales become a carbon-neutral nation by 2050, but it's clear that there are problems in the carbon market at the moment, particularly in terms of how this impacts our agricultural land. In a series of responses to written questions from me, the Government has now confirmed that public funds through the Glastir scheme are being provided to companies outwith Wales for them to plant trees. Whole farms across Wales are being bought for this purpose, with multinational companies selling the carbon on the international market. Unfortunately, when a piece of farmland is sold in this way, this land is no longer available for Welsh farmers for carbon offsetting, and just as importantly it won't be available either to help the Welsh Government to reach its target of being net zero. So, what's the solution to the problem? Well, we could change the funding system or use the planning system. So, Minister, does the Welsh Government recognise that there is a problem here, and are you willing to take steps by changing the funding system and the planning system in order to tackle this problem? Thank you.