2. How is the Welsh Government working to engage young people in decisions relating to tackling the climate emergency? OQ58684

Thank you. Wales youth COP is being held this week, when the Welsh Government will sponsor events in which young people in Wales can discuss the climate emergency directly with Ministers and Senedd Members. These meetings take place in the context of this year’s COP27 summit, where decisions will be taken that will shape the lives of young people in Wales today.

Thank you, Trefnydd. This week, as you've alluded to, world leaders are in Egypt for COP27, to discuss how the world can avoid disaster. They do so against the backdrop of warnings from the UN that the planet is on track towards being an unlivable world, and still those leaders fail to do what's necessary to save our future. That future is the inheritance that we will give to young people, yet their voices are stubbornly absent from so much decision making on this issue that will determine the rest of their lives. And those young people really want their voices to be heard. This morning, as again you've alluded to, I hosted a youth COP meeting here in Cardiff, alongside the Deputy Minister for Climate Change and Size of Wales. And, this Thursday, events will continue, and schools across Wales will gather in the Temple of Peace to share ideas about how this world can be saved. Can you give a message, please, on behalf of your Government, to the young people of Wales about how you will involve them in Welsh decisions that will affect our collective future?

Thank you very much. I'm very pleased you were able to participate this morning in the Wales youth COP event. It is really important that our young people have their voices heard. And I think the Welsh Government has really been at the fore of bringing young people forward in relation to this. You mentioned Size of Wales, and I think that's one of our most wonderful policies. And I know, in the gallery today, there are three people who work on the Mbale tree-growing project in Uganda—Mary, George and Michael—and I'm sure, Llywydd, we would all very much like to welcome them here today.

You do raise a very important point. Two years ago, when I was at the COP—that would have been COP25—everyone was talking about a decade of action, and really requiring this was the sort of point that would take us over the edge. We're two years into that decade now, and it is not something that's coming down the track; it's something that we're all living with, the climate change issues and climate emergency, and we can see it, can't we, just by the weather events that we've had not just in this country, but right around the world. But, as you say, this is our young people's future, and it's really important that their ideas and their views are heard. And I think the events that Welsh Government have supported really enable young people to engage in a way that they perhaps haven't been able to before, and also to become more informed. I remember when my own children were young, and recycling was just starting up, it was them coming home and talking to me about it, and we know that young people will go home and talk to their families and parents about it as well. But I would like to make the point that it's not just about this week; it's about what we do in the short, medium and longer terms as well.

On that, Minister, carrying on from what you just said, how is this Government working to ensure that we utilise the new curriculum in the right way, to ensure that we create that awareness that you just outlined, with some everyday real examples, like food miles, for example, and how we teach our learners to reduce those food miles and be taught about the difference between buying food from afar and food using local produce? As well as the enormous benefits that we can all think of, in terms of quality, et cetera, and utilising and helping the local economy, they can also contribute to climate issues. So, on those everyday little things that we can do, how is this Government looking to promote that and work with young people in that way?

It is really important that we continue to work with young people and our schools in relation to this. As I said to Delyth Jewell, it's not just about this week; it's about every week, isn't it, and addressing the climate emergency in that way. Obviously, the curriculum does allow that. The Welsh Government supports eco-councils and our school councils, where these issues are discussed. And I know that looking at how we procure our food in our schools, to reduce the food miles, is something that the Minister for Climate Change and the Minister for Finance and Local Government are currently looking at.