ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
IT HAS now been three months since the Welsh Government declared a climate emergecy. The decision was in response to the rapid warming of the planet that will, according to the leading experts in the world, lead to global environmental disaster.
The declaration of a climate emergency is intended to signal policy makers’ intent to take drastic action on global warming.
The climate emergency should be considered in all area of decisionmaking in order to tackle the crisis.
The Western Mail asked the Welsh Government to update us on what steps have been taken to combat the climate crisis.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Tackling climate change is not an issue which can be left to individuals or to the free market. It requires collective action and the government has a central role in making collective action possible.
“The following list is not exhaustive and highlights just some of the new investments and proposals brought forward since the declaration of a climate emergency in April. Further announcements will be made in the coming weeks and months.”
Cash spent so far has included:
■ Improving active travel, making it easier for people to make fewer journeys by car by making it easier to walk, cycle and use public transport. Amount spent £30m;
■ projects across Wales to address biodiversity loss and wider ecosystem resilience. Amount spent £12m;
■ replacing 111 ambulances with cleaner, greener vehicles, including fitting all new non-emergency patient transport vehicles with solar panels to reduce energy consumption.
Amount spent £13.5m;
■ a fund launched to support businesses to implement innovative approaches to minimising waste. Amount spent £6.5m; and
■ Community-led projects to improve biodiversity and minimise waste. Amount spent £500,000.
The declaration of a climate emergency has been a key demand of recent climate protests that have brought UK cities, including Cardiff, to a standstill.
In response to the Welsh Government’s action, an Extinction Rebellion spokeswoman said: “We welcome these initiatives which demonstrate that the Welsh Government is beginning to take the climate and ecological emergency seriously. It would be good to see a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 to demonstrate they really understand the severity of the problem.
“We would also want to see a commitment to enacting a Citizens Assembly to ensure that democratic decisions about policy are made.”
The Extinction Rebellion spokeswoman added: “As part of their role in telling the truth about the emergency, as well as including these issues in the school curriculum, it is also necessary to ensure the general public are fully aware of the dire situation we will be in if nothing is done now to reduce the impacts of climate change and the ecological disaster.
“Thus, they need to take every opportunity to raise the issue and maybe create a promotional campaign about it.”