Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Through our flagship twenty-first century schools and colleges programme, the Welsh Government has provided almost £1 billion in capital investment to support the delivery of 180 projects to improve schools and colleges, or to build new ones. This achievement reflects our strong collaborative partnership with local authorities, the Welsh Local Government Association, colleges, CollegesWales and diocesan authorities. It has allowed for strategic local decisions to be made on investment priorities in education across the whole of Wales. As one of the first nations in the world to declare a climate emergency and our intention to be a low-carbon nation, we are now at a pivotal point in our investment in our education estate.

We are building on firm foundations. The programme has shown a high level of commitment to sustainability and decarbonisation, targeting a rating of 'excellent' under BREEAM, the Building Research Establishment's environmental assessment method for new-builds. I am pleased to say that new-build projects are not the only ones demonstrating a commitment towards sustainability, given that all refurbishment and extension projects also need an energy rating of A. Furthermore, there was a requirement for all projects under bands A and B to have a minimum of 15 per cent of recycled materials.

By operating in a joined-up, cross-cutting way, the programme has provided a platform to embed the Welsh language as well as other policy strands, such as active travel, biodiversity, ICT, community and curriculum, to name just a few. The programme has acted as a delivery vehicle to ensure the best possible value from investment across our education estate in Wales, and, in doing so, it has provided a sustainability model for others to follow. However, despite this good progress, we have a duty to do more—much more—if we are to address the effects of climate change on our planet, and on our future generations. 

With the first week of the United Nations Climate Change Conference well under way in Glasgow, I am pleased to say our ambition to develop net-zero-carbon education buildings is also well under way. Through our programme we are already delivering the first net-zero-carbon schools in Wales. I visited the first of these, Llancarfan Primary School, yesterday.