The following amendments have been selected: amendment 1 in the name of Darren Millar, and amendment 2 in the name of Lesley Griffiths. If amendment 1 is agreed, amendment 2 will be deselected.

Item 6 on the agenda is the Plaid Cymru debate on the energy sector and the climate and nature emergencies, and I call on Delyth Jewell to move the motion.

Motion NDM7803 Siân Gwenllian

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Notes:

a) the Senedd’s declaration of both a climate emergency in 2019, and a nature emergency in 2021;

b) that the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) will meet this Autumn to agree coordinated action to tackle climate change;

c) that the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet next spring to agree to a global biodiversity framework;

d) the Welsh Government’s target to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050;

e) the Senedd’s belief that there should be parity of action to tackle both the climate and nature crisis (NDM7725);

f) the Senedd passed NDM7725 calling on the Welsh Government to introduce legally binding requirement to reverse biodiversity loss through statutory targets.

2. Calls on the Welsh Government to:

a) seek the full devolution of the management of the Crown Estate and its assets in Wales to the Welsh Government;

b) seek the full devolution of energy powers;

c) maximise Wales’s potential for renewable energy development by establishing a state-backed energy development company;

d) develop a net-zero workforce in Wales by facilitating cross-sector efforts to upskill workers in the energy sector;

e) facilitate the expansion of renewable power necessary to meet net-zero by investing heavily in upgrades to the Welsh electricity grid;

f) develop and implement a strategy for Welsh ports, and seek further UK Government funding of ports infrastructure in Wales to support the emerging offshore wind sector;

g) develop and implement a marine development plan to provide certainty to energy developers by guiding the citing of renewable developments away from the most ecologically sensitive areas.

Motion moved.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Any emergency requires urgency in response. That is the message at the heart of our debate today, because an emergency is defined as requiring immediate action; it is what makes it an emergency. We in Wales have declared both nature and climate emergencies in recent years, but to date, enough action has not been taken to reinforce those declarations. I fear that waiting is not a luxury we can any longer afford. Wales and the world face climate and nature disaster, and just as these crises are intertwined and their causes interconnected, so too must their solutions be interwoven. We must have parity in approaches to tackling both of these crises, both climate change and biodiversity decline, because Dirprwy Lywydd, we stand at a turning point in human history. It's not often that we can truly say something of that magnitude, but it is true. The choices we make now or those we fail to make won't just set the scene for generations, they'll ensure whether or not that scene still exists.

COP15 opens this week and COP26 is on the horizon. Now, they offer the world a chance to turn the tide of climate change and biodiversity decline. The stakes are high, but many fear that the frameworks that will come out of COP could be a cop-out, a collective burying of heads in the sands of time at the very moment that those sands run out of the hourglass, and at the hour of destiny world leaders could fall short. But it needn't be that way, and Wales can help set the tone. Instead of waiting for COP26 and COP15 to conclude and take from those frameworks our own solutions, we could show the way and prove again how a country the size of Wales can be world leading.

I said that we can't afford to wait, but the declarations we've made and the conferences that await us afford us an opportunity to be radical, to be innovative and to be trailblazing, because urgency is required. The climate emergency is already hitting our communities hard. The Rhondda, Llanrwst, Ystrad Mynach—streets in almost every corner of our country have faced horrific floods. Homes and businesses have been destroyed, and the threat of landslips from unsafe coal tips looms over our heads. Wildfires and droughts have become commonplace, and temperatures that break new records and wreak destruction are set every year, inexorably rising like the seas at our feet.

Just as some things go up, so others go down. The decline in biodiversity on our planet is set to wipe out a million species. In Wales, the RSPB and other partners have warned us in their State of Nature 2019 report that 666 species in Wales are at threat from extinction, and 73 are already gone, a calamity we shouldn't just note and move on from. Those species have left us because of how we live our lives. Butterflies have declined by 52 per cent since 1976, and 30 per cent of terrestrial mammal species are at risk of disappearing from Wales altogether, like the red squirrel and water voles. Dirprwy Lywydd, the science is clear, and Wales is feeling the impacts of these co-existing crises, the one that charts forever upwards, the other that pulls us down into the depths of loss.

So, what can we do to change this? Well, the second part of our motion sets out a series of bold and ambitious actions that Wales can and must take in order to grapple with the severity of these crises. We call on the Government to maximise our nation's potential for renewable energy development by establishing a state-backed energy development company. We call for the development of a net-zero workforce in the energy sector, the expansion of renewable capacity through investment in upgrades to the electricity grid, a strategy for Welsh ports that would support the offshore wind sector, and a marine development plan that will provide certainty to energy developers and ensure that renewable developments don't get planned in the areas that are the most ecologically sensitive.

I said that we have resources at our disposal, but not all Welsh resources are under our control, which is why we furthermore call on the Welsh Government to seek the full devolution of the management of the Crown Estate and the full devolution of energy powers, to ensure we have all levers we need to tackle these crises head on.

Now, a lot of what we're talking about in this debate will be on a massive scale, global targets and pathways and plans that stretch decades into the future, but the impacts of Government inaction in these areas aren't only measured in graphs or numbers or pylons in the sky. People's lives on the ground are affected in a devastatingly personal way too. The recent energy crisis that we're still in the midst of has underlined our dependency on markets and resources that are outside our control, and how susceptible we are to their shocks. Customers face higher bills and the industry faces supply cuts and shut downs. Families least able to afford higher prices will be hit most harshly. The floods I mentioned earlier don't just devastate houses, they rip people's lives apart. That is the consequence of inaction.  

Dirprwy Lywydd, when we had our debate in June, which ended in the Senedd declaring a nature emergency, Mike Hedges said that so many beloved creatures known to us from children's books could soon disappear from our world. And I think that that image of storybooks is compelling. What storybooks, what history books, do we want our grandchildren to read declaring what we did in this moment, when so much could still be changed, if there is paper left to write on? Do we want the narrative to unravel, to trap future generations in a dystopia of scorched earth, depleted landscapes and ever-rising tides? Or do we want a page to be turned today, a chapter opened that will allow those children to tell a tale of triumph? The eyes of the future are on us today. Their destiny is in our hands. Let's start their stories now while we still can. 

I have selected the two amendments to the motion. If amendment 1 is agreed, amendment 2 will be deselected. I call on Janet Finch-Saunders to move amendment 1, tabled in the name of Darren Millar. 

Amendment 1—Darren Millar

Delete point 2 and replace with:

Calls on the Welsh Government to:

a) work with the UK Government to deliver major energy projects for Wales;

b) welcome the fact that the UK Government has committed £90 million to innovative Welsh net-zero projects;

c) build on the fact that the UK Government and industry have committed to invest over £40 million to support the cluster of industries in south Wales to transition to net zero;

d) acknowledge that the UK Government has made available £4.8 million, subject to business case and other approvals, to support the development of the Holyhead hydrogen hub;

e) welcome the £100 million UK seafood fund designed to level up coastal communities across the UK, and work to implement rather than delay the creation of a freeport in Wales;

f) maximise the potential for renewable energy development by establishing a package of support for private investment in renewable energy schemes;

g) facilitate the growing dominance of renewable energy by placing greater urgency on ensuring that infrastructure can accommodate demand;

h) develop and implement a marine development plan;

i) create 15,000 new blue/green jobs.

Amendment 1 moved.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I move this amendment in the name of Darren Millar, and I'm very grateful once again to Plaid Cymru for this important debate. Now, with COP15 under way, it is very appropriate that we ensure that our Welsh Government is doing its utmost to tackle the climate and, indeed, our nature crises. Across the Siambr, there is agreement on the need to achieve net zero by 2050 and to protect at least 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030. But where we differ is on how we go achieving those aims.

Plaid, of course, are true Welsh nationalists, seeking further devolution of powers and creation of a state-backed company, a new state-backed company, but why would you want this Welsh Government to do that when only a few weeks ago, when we were talking about the coal tips, they were looking to put that responsibility on the UK Parliament, saying we haven't got the resources here in Wales? [Interruption.] No, no, no, it's called devolution. Why would you want this Welsh Government that has wasted hundreds of millions of pounds, such as £221 million on uncompetitive enterprise zones, £9.3 million on flawed initial funding of the Circuit of Wales, and £130 million on propping up Cardiff Airport?

Now, the UK Government—Conservative—on the other hand is very much willing to prove it wants to deliver a green revolution, and here in Wales, with over £40 million committed to support the cluster of industries in south Wales to transition to net zero, £4.8 million being made available, subject to business case and other approvals, to support—[Interruption.]—to support a Holyhead hydrogen hub, and they've already committed £90 million to innovative Welsh net-zero projects.

Now, I was clear in the last Senedd that 'Future Wales: the national plan 2040' should have addressed the serious problems highlighted by stakeholders, and that is the severe lack of grid capacity in mid Wales. Only today I've been talking with energy developers, and they are really concerned about the situation in mid Wales. And it's something that you as a Welsh Government need to grasp that nettle on, and work cohesively with the UK Government to ensure that we can get that grid capacity increased. We need to know what deadline has been set to deliver the long-term plan and what steps will be taken to improve capacity in the short term, so that infrastructure can accommodate demand required to electrify our transport and heating infrastructure.

The Welsh Government must maximise the potential for renewable energy development by establishing a package of support for private investment in any new schemes, and this harks back to what you were saying earlier, Rhun, about small schemes. The Minister for Rural Affairs decided to withdraw really vital business rates support for privately-owned small-scale hydroelectric projects. Why not instead send a clear message to our farmers and land managers that the Welsh Government actually does support them in diversifying through investing in renewables? If you don't act now, the startling evidence of the last 'Energy Generation in Wales' report will simply be repeated: an increase in the total hydropower with capacity of less than 0.2 per cent; an increase of less than 1 per cent for Welsh solar photovoltaics capacity; no large-scale battery storage projects commissioned at all in 2019; and only a 0.6 MWh increase in domestic and small-scale commercial battery storage installations.

Whilst you can act to help bring forward private investment, there is a need for all levels of government—and I do appreciate that—to co-operate on delivering major energy schemes for Wales. Wylfa Newydd is a key example, and I thank—. Oh, he's gone; he was behind me. But Sam Kurtz mentioning about Wylfa and the work that our colleague Virginia Crosbie MP in Ynys Môn—. We can be working together on seeing a small modular reactor built in Trawsfynydd by the 2030s, and we have the incredibly exciting opportunity with the north Wales tidal lagoon, which could deliver entirely predictable blue power to over 1 million homes. Yes, I'll give way.

Sorry, I just wanted to say: can you add to that the Swansea tidal lagoon?

Absolutely. I supported the Swansea tidal lagoon, and I—. At the end of the day, yes, I support that—so that and a north Wales one.

As Margaret Thatcher said, 'You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.' So, I'd encourage the Welsh Government to work with our private businesses and the UK Government to keep fighting to see this green revolution in Wales, and let's make this a great global energy nation once again. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd.

I call on the Minister for Climate Change, Julie James, to formally move amendment 2, tabled in the name of Lesley Griffiths.

Amendment 2—Lesley Griffiths

Delete point 2 and replace with:

Confirms its commitment to the principles enshrined in the Silesia Declaration to support workers through a just transition to net zero.

Calls on the Welsh Government to:

a) play its part in enabling the transformation of our energy system to retain economic and social benefits from renewable energy generation in Welsh communities.

b) increase energy generation capacity owned by public bodies and community groups.

c) support Welsh ports to ensure they are able to invest to maximise local benefits from the development of marine energy generation.

d) protect marine biodiversity whilst facilitating the deployment of marine energy technology, including through providing guidance for understanding the most suitable locations.

Calls on global leaders to use the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties to commit to ending the use of coal in energy generation.

Amendment 2 moved.

Formally.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm fortunate enough to be able to walk along the River Taff to the Senedd, and, as I walk, I often reflect on how many of the areas around the river might be flooded within a few years unless we work together. And this is more important than party politics. We must work together—Governments on a global level and also the Welsh Government, the UK Government and local government.

The stark warning from the chair of the Environment Agency in England is 'adapt or die', and we all know there is no Offa's Dyke when it comes to climate emergency. But we need to find Welsh solutions here for global realities. To do so, we need the control. We need the levers to make a real difference. Improvements in our constitutional arrangement have been frozen by the Tory Government in Westminster. Whilst Boris Johnson is enjoying painting in his luxurious villa, the climate emergency results in glaciers melting, and here we are denied the tools we need to act.

To tackle this crisis, the Welsh Government must seek the devolution of full energy powers. The Welsh Government should govern Welsh resources for the people of Wales and for the environmental and economic benefit of Wales, today and for the future.

We cannot allow yet again the resources of Wales to be exploited by others. Over a decade ago in this place, Leanne Wood said this:

'During the height of the coal industry, enormous profits were generated from the natural resources of Wales yet almost all of the money bled out of the country and lined the pockets of people elsewhere.'

We cannot allow this to happen again.

Wales can produce the power we need from renewable sources and export energy across the world. From this place, the port of Cardiff, global Wales, international Wales, exported coal to the four corners of the world. We can be a powerhouse yet again. 

What we cannot do is to wait and wait for meagre handouts from a disinterested Westminster Government. As seen in the future ports report, which was published today, the Crown Estate is auctioning leases for the development of offshore wind and other renewable technologies. This is despite the fact that the Welsh Government has responsibility for renewable energy for projects up to 350 MW. Lucrative revenues from the Crown Estate leases that should flow here to the Welsh Treasury are instead disappearing to a pot in Whitehall, with a generous 25 per cent cut to the royal family. Money that could make a difference to families here in Wales is going straight into the bank accounts of billionaires.

Having been shocked by the progress made by the SNP after the independence referendum, the Crown Estate was devolved in Scotland, but the so-called voice of Wales in the Cabinet, Simon Hart, is against that; Wales isn't good enough for those powers, according to him. But the figures are striking. Listen to these: 27 per cent of Welsh energy comes from renewables, as compared to 61 per cent in Scotland.

The Crown Estate's control of our seabed, let alone large tracts of our land, means that Wales is losing out on a green goldrush that is currently benefiting Scotland, and this is the same thing that's happened across the centuries. And that's the irony of the UK's neoliberal energy market—state-backed energy companies from across Europe are taking advantage of Wales's resources and are spending that to help their own public services back at home, whilst our public services are cracking at the seams due to lack of investment.

Today, in a green alliance event in Westminster, Ed Miliband stated that Rachel Reeves would be the first UK green Chancellor. Well, here in Wales, we don't need to wait for a Labour Government. Why not get the powers so that Rebecca Evans can be the first green finance Minister and show the way to your colleagues in London?

Instead of the lack of ambition of Westminster, we need to secure the powers to power Wales. And I will finish with this point.

If we are to maximise our renewable potential, we must do so with our own two feet and our own two hands; we cannot rely on others, especially a disinterested Westminster Government. The resources of Wales should be governed by the Government of Wales—

Conclude now, please.

—for the people of Wales, for the future generations of Wales.

It's as simple as that. Thank you.

We are in danger of being paralysed by the extent of the challenge in front of us, but, really, it is no use wringing our hands in despair; we really do have to grasp the moment, and we all have a part to play.

But I really don't think it's much use throwing darts at the UK Government to ask them for more devolution, because they are absolutely not interested. They hate devolution and they are doing everything possible to claw it back from us, using leaving the European Union as the opportunity to do it. 'Not a penny less' we were told would happen as a result of Brexit—that went well; £137 million less from the rural development programme and the hijacking of all the structural funds into their so-called shared prosperity fund. 'Take back control' didn't mean empowering local communities, just more power for the mega rich, who are now buying their influence over the UK Government ruling party.

So, let's forget what the UK Government isn't going to do for us; we know that. I agree with Rhys ab Owen that we could produce enough clean energy in order to decarbonise our domestic energy market, and we could be selling it to the countless numbers of people who want to buy it off us, but we haven't managed to do that so far, and we need to understand a little bit better as to why we've actually seen a dip in the production of renewable energy in Wales over the last few years. Perhaps I should declare an interest here, as my partner is a consultant with Bute Energy, who are prospecting in Wales. But we really do need to think about how we are going to accelerate the use of green renewable energy, because there is a huge demand for energy, both here in Wales and in the rest of Europe.

We hear the need to decarbonise our transport, and some of that is going to be about transferring to electric cars from fossil fuels, but we can't be affording to plug in these electric cars using the dirty fossil fuels that we're trying to get away from, so we've got to have a massive boost in renewable energy production. We've also got to decarbonise all our housing, and that means not just retrofitting all the existing housing that's already been built, which is nearly all our housing, but we've also got to put a stop to all these mass house builders who want to continue to build houses that are not fit for purpose. So, I do hope that the Minister is able to tell us when we are going to upgrade Part L of the building regulations to ensure that we're only producing zero-carbon standards in the future.

We also need to think about everything we do as individuals. And to be able to make the right choices, we've got to understand what the cost is of buying a particular product rather than another one. Because it's no point just exporting our carbon emissions by saying, 'I won't buy that because that produces too many carbon emissions here. We'll get somebody abroad to do this for us.'

We have to understand that if we're going to have all this industrial production of meat in these pig factories or these chicken factories, there's a cost to the world, not just in Wales and the pollution of our rivers, but what is it they're eating and where does it come from? If we are going to have animals produced non-sustainably—. Grass is a very sustainable mode of production of meat, but if we produce them by feeding them soya and corn, we're probably contributing to the massive deforestation of the Amazon.

So, we are going to need to educate everybody on how to make appropriate choices about everything that we do as well as nurturing our nature with just very, very small decisions around putting in window boxes and planting food for our own consumption and for our neighbours. These are the things that we can do, but I think we need to stop trying to think that somehow the UK Government are going to change their behaviour—they aren't—and we're going to have to do this for ourselves.

Thank you to Plaid Cymru for tabling this important and timely debate today, which clearly has a broad reach in terms of its title—there are all sorts of avenues that Members could go down in relation to this debate today.

I would also like to welcome and certainly support the first section of the motion from Plaid Cymru, which seeks to note all of the good work that has taken place in various organisations and in various parts of the country as well. I'm going to try and keep my contribution as practical and as about delivery as possible.

When it comes to green energy solutions, for me, there are three pertinent points that I'll also make my contribution focus on. And the first, I think, which we need to discuss and continue to consider, is the range of energy solutions that we would want to see in Wales. It's been clear, hasn't it, in recent weeks and months, that perhaps we've had too many of our eggs in one green energy basket, which has caused us to run into trouble, because we've seen, haven't we, that the lack of wind through September means that there is less energy available for us to use?

I think we should be considering, as parliamentarians, the focus on energy schemes that seem to be cheap in terms of their initial installation and initial costs, but we really do need to consider: are they consistent? Are they reliable? What is the macro impact of those schemes that have been put in place in the past and what other technologies should we be looking to support in the future? My colleague for Aberconwy mentioned the tidal and energy scheme, which I know Mr Hedges also brought up in terms of an intervention, but there are schemes like tidal energy—technologies like that—that can provide reliable, predictable energy for us in the future. I'll take an intervention.

Yes. I just want to remind you, as a new Member, that we tried so hard, across all parties, to get the UK Government in the last Parliament to back the tidal energy scheme and they passed it by. And really, the tide has gone out on this one. It's absolutely desperate and now we are in the position we are in.

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.   

It was back in 2019 that this Senedd became the first Parliament to declare a climate emergency and, a few months ago, the first Parliament to declare a nature emergency. We know that the task ahead is monumental, and that it requires serious thinking and the will to change the system that we live in. I have always been clear: the current economic system that we live under is incompatible with dealing with the climate and nature emergency, as is the truth of any system that puts profit and greed above all else.

The shift to a net-zero economy, for example, will be one of the most profound economic transformations that we have seen in decades, and a pivotal moment in the history of not just Wales, but humanity. It calls on us to put community and planet first. We are the ones, right here, right now, who will decide whether or not this planet is habitable for our grandchildren. We are living in one of those points, as Delyth Jewell said, in history where humanity succeeds or fails.

As we shift to a net-zero economy, the consequences for our communities will be far reaching. Yes, decarbonisation offers us some potentially rich rewards, but we must ensure that everyone benefits from those rewards. Members will hopefully be aware of the principle of just transition. This principle must be key to any strategy to tackle climate change. It means moving our economy to a more sustainable one, in a way that's fair for all workers, no matter what industry they work in.

The way that our economy is set up now means that many people's livelihoods and wider communities are tied to the polluting industries: industries that are going to drastically change; industries that will shrink; and industries that will potentially disappear entirely, which will ultimately change the lives of workers in the communities for generations to come. We have seen the impact of an unjust transition already. When Thatcher closed the pits, communities were left out to dry, and the effects are still being dealt with today.

The Welsh Government must explore the opportunities to establish a renewable energy centre of excellence to address the current skills gap, whether that is through training people anew or retraining those in high-carbon sectors. This can only be delivered on a national strategic scale. I'd like to ask the Welsh Government to outline their response honestly, if they believe that the workforce as it currently exists can deliver on their green commitments. Can the workforce actually deliver green housing commitments? Can it deliver energy insulation goals? Can it deliver for nature?

To build a net-zero workforce, we need to see leadership from the Welsh Government to facilitate cross-sector efforts to upskill workers. A wide range of stakeholders—such as EDF, for instance—have expressed concerns as to whether Wales would have the capacity to create more jobs following the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar concerns were echoed this morning in a meeting that I held with representatives of the construction sector.

Over the next five years, all companies in Wales will have to be on some kind of decarbonisation journey. We need to seize the initiative and act now to develop a comprehensive green workforce strategy, or whatever the Welsh Government wants to call it—just do it. We could create thousands and thousands of jobs, bring economic prosperity to a range of sectors across the length and breadth of Wales, deliver our green aims, and secure a sustainable future for all. But we need to be strategic, we need ensure that there is a well-equipped, highly trained, green workforce there to deliver these aims.

And finally, Dirprwy Lywydd, there’s something that I think that is often overlooked when we talk about transitioning the economy into a more sustainable one, and that’s poverty. We know that people want to make those green changes in their lives, as Jenny Rathbone indicated, but the reality is they simply can’t afford to. It’s all well and good for us here to stand up and go on about the changes we need to make, but we, of course, speak from a privileged position. If you’re a family with kids to feed, working multiple jobs and doing everything you can to make ends meet, then you simply can’t afford to go and buy sustainable food. You can’t afford to go to the zero-waste shop, you can’t afford to switch to an electric vehicle, you can’t afford to do anything other than the precarious status quo. Tackling the climate emergency must mean tackling poverty. We have the chance to change everything, to flip the table. When we take those steps, they need to be for everyone. We’ve talked enough, and time is up. It’s now or never.

I would like to thank Plaid Cymru for tabling this debate this afternoon on a very important and pertinent issue. Apart from a few on the fringes of society, there is no-one on this planet who can deny the calamities facing us, from the changing climate that threatens regular, extreme weather events, like the flooding that devastated my constituency at the start of this year, to the massive decline in nature, which has seen the loss of countless species. How we act over the next few decades will determine the viability of life on earth.

However, we have to ensure that we not only do the right thing, but we do it in the right way. We all remember the disastrous policies of the Blair/Brown era that promoted diesel engines in a misguided attempt to control carbon emissions. We are still dealing with the fall-out from that fiasco today. How many children died or suffered long-term health effects from the rise in particulates and nitrogen oxides? We have to ensure that what we do today doesn’t have unintended consequences, otherwise we will have failed to learn from the lessons of the past.

The industrial revolution led to massive benefits for mankind, but also led to untold damage to the only place humans can call home: planet earth. We cannot continue to make the same mistakes. Even on a micro level, we must ensure that the actions we take to limit damage to our climate and nature do not cause unnecessary damage to lives and livelihoods. The 10 largest global corporations are responsible for 70 per cent of emissions, but it won’t be their bank balances that suffer as we tackle climate change; it will be the poorest in society who will share the heaviest burden.

While there is no alternative to net zero, getting there will have an astronomical price tag. It will ensure an increased cost for basic necessities, such as food and fuel. We are seeing those effects now. My constituents, some of the poorest in the western world, could be hit the hardest. How will a retired couple in Rhyl afford to pay for retrofitting a replacement to their gas heating? Because we lacked the foresight, we have failed to invest in the technology that will address these issues. Our research and development spend is woeful, and that is why a Welshman had to travel to America to develop electric vehicles. Hopefully, the Welsh Government can persuade the chief executive officer of Lucid Motors to come back to Wales, and I can highly recommend St Asaph business park.

Everything Welsh Government does should not only be focused on tackling our environmental woes, but also to consider the wider implications. By not rebuilding Llanerch bridge in my constituency sooner, we are adding to the congestion and pollution, as well as denying local residents access to active travel. By asking councils to pursue a rewilding policy, you fail to consider the consequences of turning a green space, used for exercise and play, into a wildflower meadow. It’s great for bees, but not so great for boys and girls. Every policy has a place, but Welsh Government must ensure a holistic approach, and we must avoid unintended consequences. Diolch yn fawr.

Our communities are important to all Members of Plaid Cymru across Wales, but they're particularly important to me because they're part of my portfolio. So, I'd like to focus my contribution to this debate on the generation of community energy, and we've heard about that in the previous debate.

It's possible these projects could only be a small part of the energy system in future, but they are a vital part, because they will play a key role in gaining permission, increasing engagement and incorporating the kind of radical behaviour change that we will need to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis. Communities have to be at the heart of any green change. Every community has its role to play. As Community Energy Wales said, there is increased interest from town and community councils that want to provide energy projects to get to grips with the climate crisis. The grass-roots projects are, by their nature, democratic in their structure, and this means that they promote democratic engagement. And we know that we have a deficiency in this regard in Wales. We will need to have that citizenship engagement to reach zero carbon, so we need to ask the Government to provide that guidance in the sector.

In order to unlock the potential of community energy on a wide scale, we need a long-term policy environment that is stable and supported by the Welsh Government and the UK Government. It's difficult to overstate the importance of community energy to drive that behaviour change. During the coming years, decarbonising the economy will call for significant change for consumers, such as changing to heat pumps and retrofitting our housing stock, which is often poorly insulated. Community energy organisations are acknowledged and trusted in their local areas for their community benefits, so they're vital in generating that public support and that contribution to transition to new energy sources.

To wrap up, I'd like to outline some of the steps the sector has been asking Welsh Government to take, and I'd certainly appreciate a response from the Minister—[Interruption.] Yes, certainly.

I think your point about community energy led by community councils is really important, but I wonder why you think that community and town councils haven't seized on this a lot sooner. Because all the community energy projects I can think of in Wales have all been developed by other people, whether with the assistance of the National Trust or whether by persistent individuals who've stuck to it despite all the planning obstacles put in their way. Why have town and community councils, a lot of whom have quite considerable resources, not been actively reinvesting in the community energy that could enrich their communities?

Thank you very much for the intervention. I think it's the lack of frameworks and help to encourage them to get involved in that side of things.

The sector has asked for access to necessary support, resources and finance. Furthermore, they've asked for further abilities for generators to sell their energy locally, whether this is through procurement requirements on public bodies or improved grid capacity. Assets are another core area for consideration, as well as access to land and buildings for development, and the sector wants to see the Welsh Government facilitate and support further democratic control over such assets. They also want further democratic control over the process, such as developing decarbonisation plans and approaches to research and discussions through citizen assemblies, putting communities at the heart of the green recovery.

What this really comes down to is one of our central arguments: democratic control of our own resources. Whether it's the Crown Estate or local energy production, it's Wales, our people, our communities and our democratically elected authorities who should control our resources and, ultimately, realise the benefits. Our energy generation and the profits that flow from it should not be in the hands of large foreign multinationals or, indeed, our neighbours across the border. Diolch yn fawr.

I call on the Minister for Climate Change, Julie James.

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.

The Government is also very supportive of much of the sentiment of the second part of the motion. We agree the distribution of powers and responsibilities across the UK is in need of a fundamental change. That is why we have announced our intention to establish an independent commission on the constitutional future of Wales. But what we need is a comprehensive assessment of the powers Wales needs in a fundamentally different constitutional settlement. This includes, but is very much not limited to, our responsibilities in energy and in management of the Crown Estate in Wales. And I think it's very telling that Janet Finch-Saunders seems completely oblivious to the fact that the grid is not devolved—would that it were—and her utter confusion on that is indicative of the real nature of the need to make these much more clear. Because, unfortunately, what we have seen from the Conservative Government in London is a deep hostility to devolution. As they celebrate very small investments in Wales, similar to the list in the motion from Darren Millar, the UK Government also systemically undermines the responsibilities that the people of Wales have granted this Senedd. 

We welcome investment into Wales, but we want to work with the UK Government and continue our partnership working with local government and wider social partners in Wales. However, the UK Government is, unfortunately, pushing an agenda that deliberately cuts out the Government in Wales, which has had the responsibility to deliver for Wales over the last three decades. The way the UK Government has proceeded on funding for fisheries is a direct attack on devolution, and has caused confusion, and will continue to create unnecessary ill will amongst stakeholders. The Government will not be supporting the amendment from Darren Millar. The Government's amendment shares the sentiment of the original motion, and I call on all Members to support it. 

As we look forward to COP26, it is very important that we do not forget the action that has already been taken at previous UN climate change conferences of the parties, including COP24. We have been clear that, as we move to a greater share of our energy coming from renewable sources, this transition must be a just one. We heard something of the last transition, which was not a just one, and we are very determined that this one will be not be thus. Our programme for government underlines the importance of social justice and a transition to net zero that leaves no-one behind and no place behind. The Silesia declaration at COP24 captured the need to support workers as part of this move to net zero. We remain committed to the spirit of that declaration, reflecting its essence in our social partnership Bill and our working methodologies.

Through the regional skills partnership, we are working to ensure that the education infrastructure is in place to support the growth in the green economy, and Marine Energy Wales are developing the resources needed to maximise the opportunity for new skilled jobs in marine energy in Wales. I really do agree with large numbers of Members who've contributed today that this is a chance for us to get thousands of new green jobs for the people of Wales in developing these new industries, and I call on the Senedd to confirm its commitment to the principles enshrined in the Silesia declaration.

Deputy Llywydd, we are clear that the Welsh Government has a key part to play in the transformation of our energy system away from the use of fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources. Our net-zero plan, to be published in the coming weeks, sets out the key actions we will put in place to ensure that this is indeed the decade of action, and that the foundations are laid to meet our renewable and net-zero targets. In encouraging the significant scaling up of renewable energy, we are committed to retaining the wealth in our economy and in our communities. So, tomorrow, my colleague Lee Waters will begin a deep dive to determine the actions we can take to overcome the barriers to investment, and how we can increase the renewable energy generation capacity owned by public bodies and community groups across Wales. We want the public sector to take a leading role in the development of renewable energy in Wales. Leaving investment solely to the private sector will not secure the scale of benefits that our communities need, nor the share of benefits of our national resources that we need for the people of Wales.

In the coming weeks, I will be setting out further details on our plans to set up a publicly owned renewable energy developer to lead investment in Wales. We know that the opportunities for that are very significant. In the Celtic sea alone, we are seeing the beginning of a revolution in marine energy, with a potential for 15 GW of floating offshore wind. We are committed to ensuring that our ports, our businesses and our communities are ready to benefit from that investment. Through the marine energy programme, we are developing options to secure the scale of investment needed in our ports in Wales. This will bring direct job opportunities and new investment to our local communities, and through the marine energy programme, we're also considering how Wales can best maximise the opportunities from tidal energy generation, including the work under way to bring forward a tidal lagoon challenge to make sure that we stay in the forefront of developments on tidal lagoon across the world.

As we explore the opportunities for marine energy, we also recognise the impact that marine energy can have on our environment and the biodiversity of our marine environment. The Welsh national marine plan sets the strategic framework for development to make sure new developments follow the consenting procedures and undertake a habitats regulation assessment at either the plan or project level, ensuring protection of designated sites. Since the publication of the marine national plan—the Welsh national marine plan, sorry; that's a bit of a tongue-twister—further work has begun to map sector interactions, identification of key areas of resource to which safeguarding policy will apply, and developing greater understanding of ecological constraints. Through this work, we will be providing guidance for understanding the most suitable locations for marine energy development.

In closing, Dirprwy Lywydd, I return to the importance of COP26. I urge world leaders to show the collective leadership that this generation and future generations require when they meet in Glasgow in just 18 days. We must not miss this opportunity. We cannot let the short-term response to the current energy market conditions jeopardise the decisive action needed. A priority action must be a global commitment to end the use of coal for energy generation. As set out in our coal policy earlier this year, we oppose the extraction and use of fossil fuels, and support social justice in the economic transition away from their use. We urge all nations to follow our leadership in Wales, and I call on the Senedd to support the motion in the name of Lesley Griffiths. Diolch.

I call on Llyr Gruffydd to reply to the debate.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you to everyone who's contributed to the debate. It's been a broad-ranging debate, and I think that reflects the breadth of the original motion, but also the amendments tabled to it. Many people have reminded us that we are facing crises in nature and climate, and they are interrelated, and it stands to reason therefore that the solutions are interrelated, and COP26 and COP15 are two parts of the same jigsaw when it comes to solving the crisis that we face. Action to date has not been adequate. I think the Government and everyone else would acknowledge that, because there is always more that we could do and should do, and would wish to do, in tackling these challenges.

One area hasn't been touched upon, and I think it would be remiss of me not to refer to it. I, the Minister and others attended the launch this morning of a report by WWF Cymru, RSPB Cymru and Size of Wales that really drives home, I think, how tackling our domestic footprint in terms of carbon emissions and loss of biodiversity is only part of the problem. I think it's remiss that we hadn't included the global element in our motion, nor in any of the amendments as well.

Wales has a very significant overseas land footprint—quite startling figures revealed in that report today. It really does hold a mirror up, as I was saying earlier, to us as politicians and to society more widely in terms of the impact that we're having beyond our borders. An area equivalent of 40 per cent of the size of Wales was required overseas to grow imports of certain produce that we use here in Wales, 30 per cent of the land used to grow Welsh imports of commodities in some of those countries are categorised as high or very high risk for social and deforestation issues, and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with that activity represents 4 per cent of Wales's total estimated domestic and imported goods carbon footprint, or the equivalent of nearly a quarter of all the emissions of transport in Wales. It's startling, it's striking, it's shameful, really, and each and every one of us, regrettably, are contributing to that. It's important that when Delyth Jewell, in opening the debate, was talking about the need for clarity around the parity that we need to give in relation to climate and nature emergencies—I think it's also now time for that parity to be reflected in relation to our domestic and our global responsibilities, particularly within the context of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, where being a globally responsible country is a responsibility for each and every one of us as Welsh citizens. 

I'll just respond to a few of the contributions. Janet Finch-Saunders was lauding the apparent green revolution, I think was the term that you used, that's coming our way from the Westminster Government. Well, you're certainly doing your bit for Tory greenwashing there. You didn't mention the Cambo oil field or new coal mines in the north of England or, indeed, as you were reminded by some Members, the lack of support for tidal lagoons in Wales, or even the UK Government's seeming insistence on forcing more cars on more Welsh roads, particularly around Newport. So, don't come here and talk the talk when the UK Government isn't walking the walk. I think it's regrettable that you struck that tone. And similarly Gareth Davies blaming Blair and Brown for where we are today. In fairness, it's not as if we've had a Tory Government for 10 years since then, but I'm sure you'll get around to it at some point. Let's hope you get around to it by the time we get to the COP26 negotiations. Because, as the Minister said, it's a milestone moment, really, isn't it, and we mustn't miss the opportunity. My fear is that the UK Government has failed to build an international coalition around the need to really get to grips with this before we get to COP26, but obviously the jury's out and we'll have to see what is achieved. And many of us I know will be attending and hopefully doing our own little bit as much as we can to try to achieve the outcome that we want to achieve. 

Rhys ab Owen, we do need the powers to deliver the future that we want, because of course the UK Government is not delivering that future that we want to see. And, as Luke Fletcher said, we also need the skills in order to be able to deliver on the potential that we have. And, as Peredur said as well, our communities need to be at the heart of the green recovery. It needs to be a transition by our communities for our communities. So, whether it's delivering for climate and for nature through developing energy projects, building up our grid and our ports, investing in our communities, tackling biodiversity loss in planning, changing our consumption behaviour, setting legally binding targets—and I've been on a journey in relation to those targets. I was quite sceptical initially, but we've seen how carbon emission targets are actually driving an agenda on that front—I think we can do exactly the same in relation to biodiversity as well. Whatever it is, and it's probably all of that and more, Wales really has a role to play, and Wales really wants to play its part in achieving that, both at home and abroad. 

So, the question is: how serious are we about this? Now, I've always said to the Government, 'When Ministers are brave, then this Senedd will back you. When you fall short of the mark, then obviously we will call you out.' Delyth Jewell told us right at the beginning of this debate that the eyes of the future are on us today, so let's reaffirm our commitment to Wales and the world by backing Plaid Cymru's motion. 

The proposal is to agree the motion without amendment. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I see that there is objection, so I will defer voting on this motion until voting time, which follows. 

Voting deferred until voting time.

In accordance with Standing Order 12.18, I will suspend the meeting before proceeding to voting time. 

Plenary was suspended at 17:03.

The Senedd reconvened at 17:13, with the Deputy Presiding Officer in the Chair.