Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:52 pm on 17 November 2021.
Thank you for raising, again, an important question. In terms of our carbon impact assessment work, I would say we're on a journey with that; we're seeking to improve the way in which we undertake those carbon impact assessments. We had some work done, by I believe it was Cardiff University, for us, in the first instance, where we looked at the health main expenditure group and looked at how we could measure carbon through that, which was a really interesting piece of work. They drew it to our attention that, actually, about half of the Welsh Government's budget is exposed to pay—so, essentially paying salaries and so on—so what happens beyond that in terms of carbon impact assessment is really much more about the choices that we allow people to make and trying to make it easier for people to make choices that have a positive impact on decarbonisation and so on. So, we'll continue with the approach that we're undertaking on carbon impact assessments, and transparency is important. I'm not saying that we've got it perfect yet, but we are still seeking to make important steps on that journey. And, of course this budget has to recognise the seriousness of the climate and nature emergency that we face, and that work is ongoing at the moment, with a view to publication on 20 December.