Responding to the statement by Carl Sargeant, Minister for Natural Resources, on the Welsh Government’s Climate Change Strategy, Jessica McQuade, WWF Cymru Policy and Advocacy Officer said:

“We’re glad that the Minister recognises that Wales is not on track to meet its target of cutting emissions by 40% by 2020 and we welcome his ambition to deliver. However his statement today shows he has much work to do in his new role to rectify this.

“The statement relied heavily on repeating previous announcements rather than outlining new programmes and extensive cross government actions that we must see to drive the scale of change needed.

“WWF and Stop Climate Chaos Cymru want to see a proper action plan which shows how each Government department will contribute to reducing emissions.  Ministers also need to assess the impact of all their decisions on emissions reductions. And we are calling for statutory emission reduction targets to drive forward action in the public sector.”

“There is strong public support in Wales for action on climate change. Today’s debate also shows all parties want the Government to go further. We look forward to working with the new Minister to build on this.”