Wales should set a target to cut carbon emissions by 95% by 2050, compared with 1990 levels, the UK government’s climate advisory body has said. It wants to cut numbers of sheep and cattle, plant more trees and encourage heavy industry to clean up. Chris Stark, chief executive of the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC), said: “It’s a big shift, but one which we think is achievable”. The Welsh Government said it would “consider the advice in full”. It is more than the 80% target set by Welsh Government in 2016. But it is less than the “net-zero” target recommended for the UK by 2050 and one leading environmental charity said more could be done. CCC, which set out what it called an “ambitious new target” for Wales, is taking into account particular issues facing the nation around its farming, steel and power industries. Gases which heat the atmosphere and contribute to climate change are by-products of agriculture, including methane from cows and sheep, and gases from the things such as fertilisers. Haf Elgar, director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, said: “We can be more ambitious – why should we do less than the UK? Scotland has been leading the way with renewable energy but I didn’t think that’s a reason we can’t catch up.”
BBC 2nd May 2019 read more »
Assembly members voted to declare a “climate emergency” on Wednesday, with opposition AMs demanding action on the environment from ministers. The vote by AMs follows protests around the world. Plaid Cymru welcomed the Welsh Government’s decision to make such a declaration earlier in the week, but said ministers could not simply rebrand existing policies. Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths promised to review their climate plans. She and Plaid said the vote – backed by 38 AMs, versus two against and with 12 abstentions – made the assembly the first parliament in the world to vote to declare a climate emergency.
BBC 1st May 2019 read more »