Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 1:50 pm on 18 May 2022.
Diolch, Llywydd. Last week, there was a highly critical report that was published by the Office for Environmental Protection. It was warning the UK Government that the progress to deliver on environmental commitments in England is too slow, and it makes recommendations for urgent action. It emphasises the need for legally binding targets.
We have had this discussion, I know, Minister, a number of times before. We know that the plight of the environment is no less serious in Wales, but we still don't have an independent body that can hold the Government to account. I know that people can raise concerns about the functioning of environmental law with the interim environmental protection assessor for Wales, but that interim assessor doesn't have the powers to investigate and take action about perceived failures or breaches of the law by public bodies.
The Office for Environmental Protection has a public-facing website, and it has consulted on a draft strategy on its enforcement policy, but none of that is true at present about the interim assessor's work, in terms of it not being in the public domain. So, do you recognise, Minister, that there is a gap that is unacceptable in terms of environmental governance in Wales? Can you provide reassurance to the Chamber, please, that you will bring forward legislation to establish an independent environmental governance body and nature recovery targets for Wales in the second year of this Senedd?