Climate change challenge for Welsh Assembly Government

On the day that the Environment Minister, Carwyn Jones, makes a keynote speech on climate change [1], Friends of the Earth Cymru has listed five keys areas it says must be addressed for the Assembly Government to be seen as a credible leader on the issue.

The group says that these represent litmus tests which will show whether the Assembly Government is serious about tacking climate change. These are:

Setting Annual Targets: The Assembly Government must show strong leadership on climate change. It can do this by supporting Friends of the Earth's 'Big Ask' campaign which calls for Government commitment to reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by at least three per cent every year. Targets should be set and monitored at a Wales and UK level. In Wales, a cabinet minister should ensure delivery of this policy.

Planning Policy: The Minister should announce that he will introduce planning guidance on climate change. Planning policy has an important role to play in tackling climate change. It can do this, for instance, by requiring land-use patterns that reduce car dependency; by restricting developments that would generate large amounts of carbon dioxide; by requiring high energy efficiency and embedded renewables in new developments; and by promoting renewable energy projects.

Change Direction on Transport: Road transport is a large source of carbon emissions in Wales. Carwyn Jones should announce that reduction of vehicle emissions will be a central theme of the new Assembly Government Transport Strategy. This could come from a significant shift in expenditure from road building to public transport and cycling and walking facilities. In particular, the Assembly Government should scrap proposals for the multi-million pound Gwent Levels motorway and develop instead an integrated public transport system.

Better energy: The Assembly Government's energy efficiency policy, Energy saving Wales, ought to be re-written to set annual targets for reducing energy use. The new Government of Wales Act should be used to devolve responsibility for building regulations to Wales thus enabling the Assembly to set strong energy conservation standards. Tougher targets also need to be set for generating both electricity and heat from a mix of small to large scale renewable energy schemes.

Awareness raising: A great deal more needs to be done to raise awareness of the problem of climate change and the actions that people can take to mitigate its effects. Carwyn Jones should announce a programme including high profile advertising in the media, proper funding for local energy advice centres, central and local government demonstration projects and greater emphasis on the issues in schools and colleges.

Friends of the Earth Cymru spokesperson, Gordon James, said:

"Climate change is the biggest threat that civilization has ever faced. Yet, the political response to the strong scientific evidence has been abysmal. Despite all the Government promises, emissions of carbon dioxide, the main climate changing gas, continue to rise [2] and extremes of weather threaten more and more people [3].

"Many of the solutions, such as improvements in energy efficiency, renewable energy developments and cleaner forms of transport, already exist. What has been lacking has been the political will to implement these measures on a sufficient scale.

"With public awareness of climate change at an all time high there can be no better moment for Carwyn Jones to commit the Assembly Government to become a world leader in combating carbon emissions.

"More than ever, we need courageous politicians who are prepared to take radical action to ensure that our children and grandchildren have a future on this planet."

Notes

1) Carwyn Jones, the Welsh Assembly Government's Minister for the Environment, Planning and the Countryside, will be making a keynote speech on climate change at 10.45am at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff at the official launch of the Assembly Government's Cross Sector Climate Change Group.

2) Carbon dioxide emissions in the UK are now higher than when Labour came to power in 1997: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/ ¬
globatmos/download/xls/gafg05.xls

The true figure is in fact worse because Government figures do not take into account emissions from international aviation and shipping.

According to the 'Sustainable Development Indicators for Wales 2006', carbon dioxide emissions in Wales are no lower now than they were in 1990.

3) Professor Andy Haines, Dean of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told the World Climate Change Conference in Moscow in October 2003 that "global warming is already responsible for about 160,000 deaths each year from disease and starvation".