Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:52 pm on 2 November 2021.
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you, Minister; I really hope that your throat is okay.
We live in a time of crisis, and the challenge that we face is known to us all. I welcome this strategy today as a starting point, as was the declaration of a climate emergency and a nature emergency; that was also a starting point, offering an opportunity to lay some foundations. However, as with the previous statements that I've mentioned, there are areas where I would like to see some more clarity.
Some have suggested that there is a lack of ambition at the core of this strategy, or a lack of innovation. Could the Minister please state how many of the policies in the plan are new, and how many have been carried over from previous plans? People need to understand plans also in order to take action, but recent research shows that only 24 per cent of businesses say that they understand enough about the environmental policies of the Government. So, how will the Government improve that situation?
Secondly, I would like to see more clarity about how you will measure progress. There is a delay, or a time lag, of about two years in respect of the emissions data, so it's not always entirely clear what impact the various policies in the first low-carbon plan have had. So, may I ask, in the absence of reliable or up-to-date data, how will the Government measure whether it's meeting these important targets? How has this consideration affected the plan placed before us today? Also, shouldn't we be aiming to improve the monitoring systems that we have to give us a clearer picture of how the scheme is developing?