7. What conversations has the Welsh Government had with the retail sector about improving energy efficiency towards zero carbon? OQ57627

Llywydd, in March of this year, we will launch a retail strategy for Wales. The strategy is the result of close engagement with the sector and will promote energy efficiency, and will include the appointment of trade union green representatives in the workplace, a manifesto commitment of this Government.

Thank you, First Minister. I recently met with Friends of the Earth regarding encouraging supermarkets to retrofit doors on fridges and freezers, or ensure that they have doors on when they are upgraded. I understand that the Petitions Committee discussed this in the last Senedd term, and some supermarkets responded to say they believed it would affect consumers' impulsive purchasing. I think times have changed, and with climate change a priority, along with targeting food waste, I think it should be revisited. Surging energy costs may also help encourage retailers to curb energy consumption as well. Aldi has been leading the way on this, and shown, when building new supermarkets, installing fridge doors isn't an issue and can actually improve customer experience compared to unbearably cold aisles that don't have fridge doors on them. Would the First Minister advise me of the best way forward in this campaign, and would it be possible for supermarkets to share their experience and best practice of cost savings, in order to learn from those that have taken this step? Thank you.

I thank Carolyn Thomas for those important questions, Llywydd. She's absolutely right that the use of doors on fridges has been shown to save energy, reduce food spoilage, and therefore save businesses money. And with the cost of energy rising as it is, there surely are greater incentives for businesses to do just what the Member suggested. And she's right, times are changing.

Now, there is some very good work going on amongst some supermarkets. Sainsbury's, for example, has worked with Imperial College London on its zero-carbon strategy, and that includes many initiatives of the sort that the Member has identified. Aldi, we know, is to save the equivalent of 2,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year by installing fridge doors as standard in its new and newly refurbished stores. It carried out an experiment, the experiment was successful, and now it's doing it right across the range of its stores. We've got other initiatives going on in Wales in that energy-saving field. Tesco is trialling the use of all-electric heavy goods vehicles at its south Wales distribution centre—the first part of the United Kingdom to have those all-electric vehicles.

Now, the point is, as I think Carolyn Thomas was suggesting, that we need the good practice of the leading players to be learnt by everybody else. And the retail strategy is an opportunity for us to help to make that happen. Lesley Griffiths meets regularly with the retail sector, where we discuss a whole range of issues of relevance to Wales, and energy efficiency is certainly one of them. And the strategy is an opportunity to pull some of that together and encourage those who, in the past, have been reluctant, because they believe that fridge doors, for example, might negatively impact on sales, to take the successful steps that others have already demonstrated you can do—successfully from the point of view of the customer, but also with real energy-saving advantages.

Finally, question 8, Cefin Campbell.