Work has begun on Wales’s first Climate and Nature Action Plan, which will set out a programme to tackle the climate and nature emergency as one connected challenge.

The proposed Plan would seek to achieved net-zero by 2040, then years ahead of the UK Government schedule.

A new Climate and Nature Board will be set up to help shape the Plan, chaired by Llyr Gruffydd, Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability, as it establishes a cross-government programme of action to support sustainable development, strengthen climate and nature resilience, improve environmental sustainability, support a just transition, and chart a practical pathway towards net-zero by 2040 and substantive nature recovery by 2050.

Llyr Gruffydd said: “This is not about treating climate and nature as separate problems, they are connected problems and we need to respond to them in a connected way. In developing the plan, we will bring people, communities, partners and organisations into the process of shaping solutions, drawing on their experiences as well as the evidence. Together, we will look for opportunities to take action across government and society that tackles the causes of these challenges, not just their symptoms.”

The Welsh Government’s announcement comes at the same time as the 2050 target comes under scrutiny with the Conservatives seeking to place making energy affordable over immediate decarbonisation. The Conservatives have argued that making electricity cheaper in the near term would speed the transition in the longer-term.

The policy of reaching net zero by 2050 was introduced by the Conservative government under Theresa May in 2019.

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