4. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change: COP26

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:45 pm on 16 November 2021.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 3:45, 16 November 2021

Thank you for those questions. I certainly agree that Alok Sharma did a good job in taking COP through its paces in reaching an agreement—not one that we all would have wanted to see, but, nonetheless, an agreement that takes us forward, though it did fail the ambition of the Prime Minister to keep 1.5 degrees alive, which is no flippant thing to be set aside. Janet Finch-Saunders mentioned that we are facing warming of 1.8 degrees. Just so that we are clear, at 1.8 degrees most of the world's coral reef will be destroyed and the ecosystem that relies upon that will similarly be destroyed. That then begins to unleash knock-on effects, and the danger of creating tipping points, because we simply do not know—we have modelling, but we do not know at which points these thresholds become triggered, and it's far more likely we're going to see spikes and far more dangerous weather, storms, droughts, which will have catastrophic effects not just around the world, but in Wales. 

So, 1.8 degrees is not good enough, and the UK Met Office chief scientist said at the presentation I attended that based on current policies, we are heading towards a 4 degree warming by the end of the century. And just to be clear, that is the end of human existence as we know it. So, these are not stats that we can throw around lightly like we might in other policy debates. The consequences of this will be devastating if we do not manage to achieve more than we have at COP. 

She mentioned that we need to achieve a 37 per cent reduction by the end of carbon budget 2. That requires all of us in this Chamber not just to sign up to the targets, but to sign up to the consequences of those targets. So, we announced a roads review. As uncomfortable as that it, that is part of the suite of the measures that we need to implement, and Members in this Chamber, despite what they say today, need to show leadership and courage when it comes to supporting the follow-on consequences of these emergencies that we are willing to endorse. 

She asked specifically about Cwmni Egino. We are setting that up, and we're looking at the case for including renewables within that as well, because we are committed to setting up a public sector-owned and led renewables company, and we're considering the case for pooling that expertise. 

In terms of short-term actions she asked about, she mentioned the deep dive we've done on trees, what we're currently doing on renewables, the roads review itself and developing tougher building regulations. Those are just a small number of things we've done in the last six months since this department was established, and there's much more we need to do. The pace of change needs to be kept up. 

She asked about the existence of rapid charging points, and she is right. As the take-up of electric vehicles scales up significantly, so will the charging infrastructure we need to match that. We've set out a strategy just recently setting out what we're doing, which we think helps us keep pace. It's not just the job of the Welsh Government to put in place the charging infrastructure; it's a job for the private sector as well. As I keep mentioning, the Welsh Government doesn't provide petrol stations, nor should we be expected to provide the bulk of the charging infrastructure. We do need to look at an outside-in model so that those areas least likely to be served by the market are served well. And we have announced fresh funding again for the ultra-low emissions vehicle fund. 

Finally, on meat, clearly, the UK Climate Change Committee sets a pathway for reducing meat consumption, and it's not just meat produced in our country. Yes, Janet Finch-Saunders is right that Welsh meat has comparatively lower emissions than meats from other countries, but as I mentioned with the experience of the indigenous people of Peru and Brazil, the cheap meat that we buy in from South America is the meat that is driving the demand for soy that is leading to destruction of the rainforest, which is not then there to sequester the carbon that we need sequestered in order to keep global levels down. So, on meat, overall, the consumption does need to come down. And as I've said consistently, I think there is a case for eating less meat, but that the meat we do eat is Welsh meat, is local meat, is higher quality meat. In all of these things, all of the changes required are difficult and uncomfortable for us, but we cannot afford to duck this challenge.