Deputy Presiding Officer, the Climate Change Committee's Wales progress report made it clear that a coherent UK industrial strategy is needed to allow Welsh industry and business to maximise their contribution to net zero. Our plan includes important asks of the UK Government, reinforcing the need for long-term and consistent policy, support for innovation, and global leadership in action. From clarity for business on regulation and funding to action on fuel switching and carbon pricing, our calls demand a coherent framework that all of us can use to plan against. With the right framework, business and industry in Wales would finally have the certainty they need to accelerate their own ambition. For instance, ring-fenced UK funding for early-stage marine projects could end the rolling uncertainty that leaves projects on the shelf as investors still lack the confidence needed to move at pace.

Similarly, Wales needs to get its fair share of the revenue raised by the emissions trading scheme, reflecting the greater task our economy faces, given our reliance upon energy-intensive industries. UK Ministers should also work with Ofgem to ensure that network investments target more deprived communities to boost local economic development here in Wales.

During my oral statement on 19 October, I made it clear that the UK Government must act urgently to bring forward its deal to support a just transition for our steel sector. We will work with all partners to explore the best possible joint approach, but that can only come alongside an agreed deal that is offered by the UK Government.

Our programme for government has commitments on fair work, the foundational economy and support for co-operatives and social enterprise in Wales, and that also complements our net-zero ambitions. When we increase the number of and the support for green reps at work, more businesses can draw on the expertise of the workforce to find new ways of reducing emissions. Our foundational economy delivery plan is fundamentally about using existing and new economic activity to shorten supply chains and thereby help to reduce emissions.

Dirprwy Lywydd, Wales is a global leader in recycling—an achievement that we should all be proud of and an achievement that we can build on to accelerate our transition towards a circular economy. The pandemic and Brexit have challenged the resilience of our supply chains, but our world-class recycling gives us an opportunity to create yet more value from the resources that we collect. It also means that we can use recycled material to substitute for carbon-intensive processes and the extraction of raw materials. We’ll therefore be bringing forward new business recycling regulations to deliver further carbon reduction and to secure high-quality material to turn into new products. We’ll also expand our support to manufacturers to use recycled content. Capital Valley Plastics in Torfaen are a good example—they transform plastic film into new damp-proof courses for use in buildings, demonstrating how Welsh businesses can lead the way in remanufacturing from the recycling collected here in Wales.

We’ll also continue to work together to understand the needs of employers in relation to net-zero skills and to understand how we can support workers to take advantage of these changes. Our employability and skills strategy, which will be published in early 2022, will ensure that our system is fit for purpose in meeting the skills that a net-zero future demands.  

Wales's business community, including our small and medium-sized enterprises, will need to incorporate energy and resource efficiency alongside new technology and new ways of working to remain competitive. So, we’ll strengthen the approach of Business Wales with enhanced information and support designed to help businesses meet these challenges. And we'll also be using our refreshed economic contract to strengthen our something-for-something approach, challenging those we support to ensure that Welsh public money is used to contribute to our journey to net zero. We will deepen the requirements with clear indicators and minimum standards that must be met to achieve a contract.

This is a snapshot of the broader plans in Net Zero Wales, and I look forward to working with all of you across this Chamber to deliver on our collective ambition to meet this era-defining emergency.