Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 1:44 pm on 26 January 2022.

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Photo of Janet Finch-Saunders Janet Finch-Saunders Conservative 1:44, 26 January 2022

Thank you. As peat is five times more effective at storing carbon than trees, there really is no excuse now for not increasing the scale and pace of investment to protect and restore our peatlands. We all agree on the need to protect the environment, but it does seem that you've failed, Minister, as yet, to deliver a green Brexit for Wales. The UK Environment Act 2021 and UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 do include environmental principles and governance arrangements intended to ensure compliance and accountability in England and Scotland. And, again, to quote the Wales Environment Link, Wales has achieved comparatively little. Last week, you informed me that the timing of any work on long-term environment governance structures will just have to wait until after complex discussions with your new coalition partners, Plaid Cymru. So, rather than let another political party in the Senedd delay a green Brexit in this nature crisis, Minister, will you confirm whether the timeline for preparatory works on environmental governance will be fast-tracked, and confirm what stakeholders you hope to be involved in its discussions and that will be undertaken with those bodies established in England and Scotland?