6. Plaid Cymru Debate: The energy sector and the climate and nature emergencies

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:34 pm on 13 October 2021.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Sam Rowlands Sam Rowlands Conservative 4:34, 13 October 2021

I certainly acknowledge that and I will continue to support, from my side, the benefits of tidal energy. That particular scheme may not have been as effective as others, but it doesn't mean that tidal energy and the technology is a bad thing. And the good work in places like Morlais, looking at tidal energy and how that can be enhanced, I think is really important and what we should continue to support. Also what tidal energy offers us, as the Member will understand, is mitigating some of the impacts of climate change, which perhaps hasn't been properly considered by Governments fully in the past.

And the other solution, which hasn't been mentioned as much here today—it has been mentioned—is around nuclear energy, of course. That's a zero-emission clean energy, which is reliable. Actually, we have some good sites, as we know, across Wales at the moment, and other technologies that Mr Kurtz mentioned earlier, which perhaps are not as well proven at the moment, but it doesn't mean that we should shy away from those, rather than just going back to the old ways of doing things all the time. That was my first point. I'm afraid that the time is going here, Deputy Presiding Officer; I will try to canter through a bit more quickly, perhaps.

Secondly, the other area that I think is vital for us to focus on and consider is making sure that we have the right environment for private investment as well. I think that there can sometimes be a risk that we talk about green energy or a flourishing economy. I think that those two things are not mutually exclusive. We all appreciate and, I'm sure, support the fact that green energy is an opportunity for us to grow our economy here in Wales. The Government certainly has a significant role, not just in terms of that investment of energy firms, but creating that environmental infrastructure, which is an issue that I raised last week here in the Chamber, to enable and encourage that private investment.

The third point, which has been laboured on perhaps more this afternoon than any other, is the importance of working across nations in the United Kingdom. The climate and nature emergency that we are facing is not a Wales-only concern, and is not therefore a Wales-only solution. We must continue to seek to work together, and there may be times when it's difficult, I would acknowledge that—I'm not going to ignore that—but it doesn't mean that we have to stop that, and there must be ways that we can continue to build on those relationships and those efforts where they are working well.

So, I tried to be as brief as possible there, Deputy Presiding Officer: three points that, hopefully, are practical and hopefully will help us to see the delivery of this really important work that's ahead of us.