The Welsh Government have been accused of “lagging behind” other UK nations on environmental protection over the years, so a new bill is hoped to help stop and reverse the issues, but opposition parties think the bill doesn’t go far enough to help keep our environment thriving.
00:00With one in six species now at risk of extinction in Wales, it has never been more important to restore nature, mitigate climate change and to preserve the natural environment for future generations.
00:15Wales has thousands of acres of beautiful natural environments, but over the years has been a serious decline in the amount of some species across the country.
00:24The Welsh Government have made the environment and nature a key part of their policies moving forward, but there have been plenty of accusations that not enough is being done.
00:33A new bill is making its way through the Senate, which is hoped to stop and reverse that decline and help Wales' natural spaces thrive and flourish in the future.
00:43This legislation forms a critical part of our future approach to doing just that, and it will do so by providing the framework to address three core challenges.
00:54Firstly, it will strengthen our approach to addressing the combined impact of climate and nature emergencies.
01:02Secondly, it will strengthen and support wider policy and legislation designed to protect the environment from harm.
01:11And thirdly, it will revamp our governance structures following the UK's departure from the EU in a way that is most suitable in the context of the unique Welsh legislative landscape.
01:25It's hard to ignore the fact, though, that Wales, although steeped in natural beauty, has been lagging behind other UK nations in their environmental protection,
01:33despite Wales being one of the first countries in the world to announce a climate emergency and then a nature emergency.
01:39Politicians in the Senate want to know why Wales is falling behind and what the bill will do to change that.
01:44Really, this is, I feel it's a little too little too late, but again, we'll have to see when we completely scrutinise and challenge this bill going forward.
01:56Now, a 2024 World Wildlife Fund report found that the wild global populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish had dropped by 73% since 1970,
02:09with nearly one in six species being threatened with extinction in Great Britain.
02:14Now, Wales saw an average 20% decline in the population of monitored species between 94 and 2023.
02:23You know, why are we behind England, Northern Ireland, Scotland?
02:27But look, we may be behind other UK nations, but actually we've been able to learn the lessons from them as well as what's been good and what we can actually go further on as well.
02:36And that will be interesting to discuss with the committee because there are areas where this bill actually goes further than Scotland and Northern Ireland and England
02:43and makes it a more powerful framework and actually the powers of the body.
02:48So, for example, if I could, I'd say to you just one, there are powers within this to enforce urgent compliance, not just compliance, but urgent compliance.
