Climate action must bring about tangible benefits for people, communities and business, says the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, as an independent, global advisor on climate change publishes its advice to Welsh Government.
Derek Walker has just published 50 recommendations for Welsh Government and public bodies in his Future Generations Report, when he said Wales is not on target to meet long-term goals on nature, climate and health and set out a plan for change.
Now as the UK Climate Change Committee has shown how Wales can get to net zero by 2050, Mr Walker is repeating his challenge that communities must be involved in climate action.
Today (May 14), the UK Climate Change Committee provides its Fourth Carbon Budget Advice report to Welsh Government.
The Office of the Future Generation’s Commissioner will join the UK CCC at Welsh Government’s Climate Change Portfolio Board, to present the findings and recommendations of the Commissioner’s own Future Generations Report.
In the commissioner’s Future Generations Report, published on April 29, Mr Walker warns of unrecognisable future without urgent action to protect the environment, tackle poverty and ill health.
Public bodies, it said, must increase engagement with the public to bridge the gap between policymaking and citizens. This, Mr Walker says, should extend to communities being involved in the ownership of decisions and assets around, for example, wind turbines.
The Commissioner cited GwyrddNi in Gwynedd, a community-led movement inspired by the Well-being of Future Generations Act, where 650 school children had been supported to helped create Action Plans for their schools, from planting school gardens to increasing renewable energy production
“Preventing more climate change is cheaper, decarbonisation creates jobs and net zero brings benefits to people’s lives, but we need more of these opportunities,” said the commissioner.
“Climate change is already affecting everyone, from flood-hit communities to our public services managing the costs of extreme weather.
“The impacts of climate change are not being felt equally, with vulnerable people already suffering the most and delaying action will only make change more expensive and difficult – with 273,000 homes currently at risk of flooding in Wales, predicted to double within 100 years.
“Climate plans must bring tangible benefits to people, communities and business, including lower heating bills, and we need to enable community involvement in decision-making on climate change, including people who don’t feel listened to. Farming and land use is a big part of the solution.
“Achieving net zero will be slower and more difficult if we don’t have a concerted effort to create these opportunities today. Change will happen by crisis or choice – we must act now”.
