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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:45 pm on 13 October 2021.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 4:45, 13 October 2021

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I very much welcome the opportunity to respond to this debate. The motion from Plaid Cymru makes a number of very important points and recognises the steps we have taken to identify and tackle both the climate and the nature crisis. The climate and nature emergency is clearly not the next global crisis, it is the one already upon us. And I am very proud that, as a Senedd, we have taken collective action to declare these emergencies, and for committing Wales to a net-zero target for 2050. And let me just reiterate the point I've made previously: this is not the Welsh Government's target, as the motion sets out, it is our collective target for Wales—our target for people, businesses and organisations from right across our country. It's a target that requires us all to take action. Delyth and others set out the scale and severity of the challenge and its impact on human beings and our communities, but this very much needs not to be a counsel of despair. We can grasp the chance to change it, and we really need to do so. The 2020s need to be the decisive decade of action, not just in Wales, but globally. COP26 is a milestone moment that must deliver the step change that is needed.