Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:31 pm on 2 November 2021.
Well, Llywydd, I thank Jayne Bryant for what she said about the current schemes and for the excellent example from her own constituency. Over the first year of the Local Places for Nature scheme, a scheme designed to bring nature to people's doorsteps, 82 new community orchards were established, 520 new gardens were opened, and over 73,000 bulbs were planted. And that's just one part of what this scheme has provided, and we are committed to go on with the scheme, working with our partners, for example in Keep Wales Tidy, to go on making that difference close to where people live.
The climate emergency committee, Llywydd, tells us that 60 per cent of the changes that are needed to be taken to reduce carbon emissions will rely on individuals choosing to act differently. This scheme is designed to bring that difference close to where people live, and alongside COP26, of course, we will have COP Cymru here in Wales. Each week, there will be an event bringing many, many people together, looking at what more we can do. The first one, to be held on 6 November, later this week, in mid Wales, will be focused on nature-based solutions, and that will allow us to do exactly what Jayne Bryant asked, to find even more ways in which we can make this scheme reconnect people to nature-based solutions in their own areas, contributing to Wales's effort on that great climate change mission on which we are all embarked.