I welcome the report from the committee and thank them for all their work, and important work it is, as we move forward, because due to Wales's predominantly coastal geography, the marine sector is a huge contributor to the Welsh economy. Marine policy has a direct impact on people's livelihoods as well as on wildlife and ecosystems—many, often conflicting, demands on Wales's seas and coasts. The marine environment is used to secure clean renewable energy, sustainable food and for recreational purposes, as well as being crucial to Wales's biodiversity. For this reason, it is essential that the Welsh Government prioritises marine policy and gets the policy right, as well as ensures that it is protected and the biodiversity of our seas is protected.

Renewable energy is vital, and a growing sector, and is key in delivering on our commitment to addressing the climate and nature emergencies. However, it presents both opportunities and risks when not planned for comprehensively. Potential impacts to marine animals from marine developments include wildlife collision, disturbance, marine noise, habitat loss and loss of access to preferred feeding grounds. Any decisions on renewable development in Welsh seas should recognise that we are in a marine nature crisis and that marine wildlife has for too long been out of sight and out of mind.

In my view, and in the view of many others, up until now the Welsh Government has sadly failed to deliver upon its legal duty to achieve good environment status of marine habitats and species. Marine biodiversity continues to decline, and many marine protected areas are in unfavourable conditions. Admittedly, and to be fair, this is true of governments across the globe, but it is a particular sticking point for us Members who are species champions for marine wildlife—I, myself, being the species champion for the basking shark. It does boil down to this, in my view: the marine renewable sector is currently being driven by unencumbered market forces, resulting in incremental applications. As Welsh seas become more crowded, the marine planning system must operate at a strategic level to guide the siting of developments away from the most ecologically sensitive areas, as well as minimise the cumulative impacts on vulnerable habitats and species, and provide greater certainty to developers in the long term.

I welcome the recommendations made by the committee and I'd like to also echo as well some of the Marine Conservation Society's additional recommendations. Those include the Welsh national marine plan review, considering the need for a statutory marine development plan to complement the existing efforts the Welsh Government is taking to implement a more holistic approach. Furthermore, the deep dive must take into consideration the impacts of human activities on the marine environment and consider the interactions between all elements of the Welsh Government's marine work programme, for example fishing and marine planning, and not report on these elements in isolation. And finally, we need the Welsh Government to deliver a marine protected areas strategy that should include clear management actions for the existing network and, where feasible, any sites considered in the forthcoming MCZ process.

And one final point before I close, Dirprwy Lywydd: we can't tackle the climate crisis unless we have a healthy marine environment. That means finding cleaner ways of producing energy, not polluting the marine environment, and protecting its biodiversity. All life came from the sea, but life can't flourish without it. Again, thank you to the committee for its work and I genuinely look forward to seeing where the Government takes this.