While we were all distracted by the Brexit shenanigans, the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 ensured that Wales is legally committed to reduce our carbon emissions to net zero.

Most sensible people are committed to preserving nature and protecting the environment, but this is not enough for Welsh Government. According to a large paragraph on page 5 we need, ‘social transformation’ and it is claimed that the National Survey 2022 states that 76% of the population in Wales are ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ concerned about climate change, while 94% think that the general public have ‘some’ or ‘a lot’ of responsibility to tackle climate change.

§  Green home energy choices (reducing energy consumption and home ‘upgrade’ choices – see here)

§  Green transport choices (driving less, taking up active travel – that’s walking and cycling to you, not jetsetting – and using public transport).

§  Green food choices (reducing food waste, healthier eating and sustainable food choices).

§  Green consumption choices (shopping sustainably, using less, reusing, repairing and recycling).

The ‘related actions’ outlined in the ‘Purpose and Scope’ section include:-

·     Climate adaptation – protecting our health, homes and communities from the impacts of climate change.

·     Nature emergency

·     Growing vegetables, planting trees, conserving water, using less plastic, litter picking along with changing our travel and eating habits.

·     Circular economy (repairing and reusing).

·     Environmental protection – “managing air, land and water to safeguard our health”. An example given is servicing vehicles regularly. (Will this become mandatory? Perhaps when the air quality concerns begin to be ramped up?) Other examples are ‘driving more slowly to save fuel and reduce emissions’, practising green travel behaviour and using less water.

·     Noise management (see my Substack on Soundscape Action Plans and Clean Air Zones).

·     Education, skills and careers – (well we will certainly need a huge number of heat pump installers and engineers for the decarbonisation agenda).

Under the education point it is mentioned that we must ensure, ‘a just transition for workers currently employed in emission intensive industries and use the transition to reduce gender inequalities and the increase the number of women in leadership roles’.

Under the heading of ‘Conclusions and take aways’ we learn that Welsh Government and public services are now embedding Wales’ response to the climate and nature emergencies in everything they do.

We learn that ‘we are globally responsible. We can all play a part from the number of items we buy to the way in which we reuse and dispose of them, to our consumption of energy and food’.

As I tweeted recently, there is also this interesting paragraph that could be read in a number of ways:

“The power of storytelling and compelling narratives will be useful in creating a positive vision of the future based on a more sustainable way of living”.

Annex 1 provides a hint of further longer term changes that ‘may’ be needed. The Welsh farmers who are currently up in arms might be interested to read this:-

Agriculture:

A reduction in meat and dairy consumption and a reduction in food waste.

Reduced emissions from livestock through certain low-carbon farming practices and efficiency improvements in livestock farming.

Reduced emissions from agricultural machinery through switching to low emission agricultural machinery.

Reduced emissions from crops and soils through on-farm productivity improvements for crops, and the take up of technological options to reduce emissions from soils.

Reduced emissions from animal waste through the take up of technological solutions

Land Use, Land Use Change & Forestry

 Afforestation of unforested land, and improved management of existing forests.

Peatland restoration through restoration, rewetting and sustainable management of degraded peatlands.

Planting of second generation biomass energy crops such as Miscanthus, short rotation coppice (SRC) and Short Rotation Forestry (SRF). Residential buildings

Installing low-carbon heating in homes and moving away from fossil fuelled heating.

Residential buildings

Boosting energy efficiency in homes through implementing measures such as loft, floor, and wall insulations, in addition to more low-cost measures like draught proofing and hot water tank insulation.

Improving the efficiency of lighting and appliances.

Behaviour change in homes which includes measures such as pre-heating (pre-heating ahead of peak times), turning off lights when not in use, take up of smart meters to encourage smarter use of heating and management, using low-flow shower heads etc.

Finally, just when you thought you couldn’t get any more angry at “Corruption Bay” as Jac o’The North in his investigative blog has dubbed the Senedd, I made a FOI recently to ask how much the commissioned research into their behaviour change research strategy has cost. The total paid to the Behavioural Insights Team and Beaufort Research amounted to £112, 613 excluding VAT.