The world is standing at a crossroads, where countries across the world can mindlessly continue on their current path, using the world's fossil fuels at an alarming rate, destroying vast areas of natural habitat and cutting down trees to feed our desire for palm oil and avocados, importing vast amounts of goods and non-seasonal foods and continuing to litter our oceans and our natural environment with an endless sea of plastic and waste.

We can choose a brighter path, a path to a greener, more sustainable future, where we can be the guardians of our world and reverse the damage to our ecosystems and to our environment. We will all need to work together—countries, governments, businesses and people. As governments, we should be encouraging tree planting in appropriate places, encouraging 'buy local' incentives and the eating of seasonal foods. Legislation could limit the use of single-use plastics and, as parliamentarians, we have a moral obligation to do what we can, and I do welcome the Welsh Government's intention to promote a green recovery during the sixth parliamentary term.

But we must remember the people of Wales—those lives who these changes will affect—and we need to ensure that any changes are done in a sensible and sustainable way, a way that maintains livelihoods, creates jobs and does not cause harm or offload the burden of cost onto their shoulders. We must provide the infrastructure required to allow our businesses to adopt green incentives. We need to work with industries to collaborate together, particularly the agricultural sector, which is all too often demonised, when they should be recognised as a major part of the solution to our problems, providing high-quality, sustainable food production at a local level, while enhancing the ecosystems and protecting biodiversity.

We cannot use the climate as a political football. Time is running out. We on this side of the Chamber welcome the appointment of a Minister and Deputy Minister for climate change. However, this department needs to act and deliver to meet the challenges we all face, and we will be watching on this side of the Chamber. By working together across the United Kingdom, we can make a difference. The UK Government’s 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution will change the fundamental future of our country by having a green recovery, promoting and developing more offshore wind and hydrogen power to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and to create jobs. They’ll protect the natural environment by planting 30,000 hectares of trees every year.

We in Britain have a proud history of reducing carbon emissions. Our emissions in this country fell by 44 per cent between 1990 and 2019. This should be celebrated, taught in schools, and preached from the rooftops as a global example of what this country can do when we come together. It’s all too easy for messages of doom and gloom to persist, but we must all have hope. Humanity through the ages has proven how we can be imaginative to overcome problems and obstacles. We need to empower our citizens and businesses to make the changes they need to make and find technological solutions to give us all a brighter future.

If the Government wants to be taken seriously on this issue, we generally need to tackle climate change. They must be honest with the public because they need to know the cost of net zero and the impact on their lives, because many consumers want to make better ethical and life decisions, and that’s crucial if we’re to tackle the climate crisis. The Welsh Government must act now, because actions speak louder than words, and in order to help a green recovery, we call on the Welsh Government to work with the UK Government, and not continue to play party politics and blaming Westminster for all the Welsh Labour Government setbacks.

This Welsh Government must set out a plan to deliver hundreds of green-collar jobs for a green and more sustainable economy. The Welsh Government should urgently bring forward the clean air Act, ban single-use plastics for non-medical use, clean up our oceans, and practice what you preach and get Natural Resources Wales to meet their tree replanting targets, which are being missed year after year. You could be bold and provide further investment in offshore wind energy, and not litter our countryside with wind turbines and pylons, and you could also set achievable, long-term targets for nature and biodiversity recovery.

The time for action is now. The time for blaming others is over. It’s only by every country and every citizen across the globe working together will we make our world cleaner and greener. Diolch.