Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 1:41 pm on 26 January 2022.
Thank you, Janet. So, at the time we declared the nature emergency, I made it extremely plain that we were looking to see what the outcome of COP15 was before we set the fundamental statutory targets for nature recovery—so, actually, the halt of nature decline and then nature recovery, because we need to achieve both. We've also said we will of course sign up to the 30 per cent by 2030 targets, although we hope to improve those as a result of the outcome of the COP15 discussions. I've made that plain all the way through, so it's not as if we suddenly haven't done anything; we've always made it plain that that's what we were relying on to look at what the targets ought to be.
I recently met with Wales Environment Link; I meet with them very regularly indeed. We're absolutely on the same page as them. We need to set stretching targets that are achievable. We need to understand it's not just about the targets; it's about putting all the resources in place and the actions necessary to achieve those targets. So, it's not as if you just pluck a target out of mid air and go, 'There we are, then.' So, we've got quite a lot of work to do to make sure we can actually achieve the targets.
Just after February half term, I will be undertaking a deep dive into biodiversity, halting its decline and reversing, so that we have recovery, so that we can understand not only what the targets should be, but what the measures we need to put in place to do just that ought to be, and I will be doing that in conjunction with our statutory, our local authority and our non-governmental organisation partners across Wales. So, we are absolutely working towards that. We are, as I say, engaging in the COP15 process, and there certainly hasn't been any delay in the timetable that I set out when we declared the nature emergency.