Climate and nature

Net zero, river pollution and sewage, nature and biodiversity, waste and recycling, flooding and coal tip safety.

In the Programme for Government this sits under the well-being objective Better government – delivering our priorities.

ThemesEverything Net zero and climate targets Rivers and sewage Nature and biodiversity Waste, recycling and pollution Flooding, drought and extreme weather Coal tips and contaminated land Natural Resources Wales

Showing the theme Waste, recycling and pollution. The Programme commitments are the brief's as a whole.

Statements and debates: 3; in the Sixth Senedd
Contributions: 481; in the Sixth Senedd
Written questions: 0; in the Sixth Senedd

On this page

Where things stand
What the government has promised
From the Welsh Government
In the news
Key moments in the Senedd
Related votes
Who raises it
Who ministers have met
What people say matters
Written questions
Petitions
In committee
From Senedd Research
Latest contributions
Month by month
How this brief is put together

Where things stand

Statistics published by the Welsh Government. Each chart covers the years since the 2016 Senedd election, or as far back as the figures go, and marks each election since.

Greenhouse gas emissions

30.1 million tonnes

2024

A year earlier: 33.0 million tonnes (2023)

Show the figures

Greenhouse gas emissions: every figure in the chart, newest first.
Period	Wales
2024	30.1 million tonnes
2023	33.0 million tonnesrevised
2022	36.0 million tonnesrevised
2021	35.8 million tonnesrevised
2020	33.8 million tonnesrevised
2019	38.5 million tonnesrevised
2018	38.3 million tonnesrevised
2017	41.8 million tonnesrevised
2016	48.1 million tonnesrevised

Recycling rate

68.4%

2024-25

A year earlier: 66.6% (2023-24)

The share of local authority municipal waste that was reused, recycled or composted each financial year, as measured for the statutory target.

The Welsh Government says wood recycling is likely to have been overstated in recent years, and Natural Resources Wales says the 2024-25 rate is likely to be at least 1 percentage point lower. The published figures can't be revised. The statutory target was 58% from 2015-16 and 64% from 2019-20, before 70% from 2024-25.

Source: Welsh Government, Local authority annual municipal waste management and reuse/recycling/composting rates. Accredited official statistics. Next update due in October 2026. Checked on 22 October 2026.

Show the figures

Recycling rate: every figure in the chart, newest first.
Period	Wales
2024-25	68.4%
2023-24	66.6%
2022-23	65.7%
2021-22	65.2%
2020-21	65.4%
2019-20	65.1%
2018-19	62.8%
2017-18	62.7%
2016-17	63.8%

What the government has promised

The Programme for Government 2026 to 2030 belongs to the Seventh Senedd. Choose the Seventh Senedd to see how often each commitment has come up.

Demanding fairness from Westminster: Fair funding

Deliver a national programme to secure and restore disused tips, ensuring every tip is properly monitored, maintained, and managed. We will continue to insist that the UK government funds this work properly and in full.
Read it in the ProgrammeAlso followed in: Public finances.
Establish a Wales‑wide strategy on remediating contaminated land to map, prioritise and progressively restore post‑industrial land so communities are no longer exposed to derelict sites, toxic soils, and polluted waterways. We will continue to press the UK government to fund this restoration.
Read it in the ProgrammeAlso followed in: Public finances.

Climate and nature emergency

Ensure climate action and nature are prioritised and effectively coordinated across government, embedding decarbonisation, sustainability and environmental protection across all portfolios.
Read it in the Programme
Take bold action to improve air quality, reduce waste and tackle pollution by keeping materials in use for longer, and ensuring the polluter pays as we transition to a circular economy.
Latest figure: Recycling rate, 68.4%, 2024-25.
Read it in the Programme
Apply a whole‑system, catchment‑based approach to improve water quality and strengthen climate and nature resilience in Wales. Our ambition is for every water body in Wales to be on a clear trajectory towards good status. Working in partnership across sectors, we will accelerate delivery of nature‑based solutions that reduce pollution and build resilience to future environmental pressures.
Read it in the Programme
Develop and implement a cross‑government Climate and Nature Action Plan for Wales, supported by a Climate and Nature Board. The plan will strengthen climate and nature resilience, enhance environmental sustainability, support a just transition and identify practical action towards a pathway to net zero by 2040. As part of the plan, we will set ambitious targets to achieve substantive nature recovery by 2050.
Latest figure: Greenhouse gas emissions, 30.1 million tonnes, 2024.
Read it in the Programme
Establish a strong and independent Office for Environmental Governance Wales to hold public authorities to account for delivering environmental targets.
Read it in the Programme

Governing responsibly

Work with our newly created Flood Forum for Wales to bring together local authorities, Natural Resources Wales, emergency services, and community organisations to coordinate national strategy on flooding.
Read it in the Programme

Source: Welsh Government, Programme for government 2026 to 2030: New ambition for Wales, first published on 10 September 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Mentions are found by matching the names of plans, bodies and schemes; a mention says nothing about progress.

Month by month

Contributions tagged in each month of the Sixth Senedd. No sittings were held in December 2024, January 2025, February 2025, March 2025, April 2025, May 2025, June 2025, July 2025, August 2025, September 2025, October 2025, November 2025 and December 2025.

Show the numbers

Month	Contributions
January 2024	35
February 2024	22
March 2024	23
April 2024	26
May 2024	53
June 2024	208
July 2024	23
August 2024	0
September 2024	29
October 2024	48
November 2024	14
December 2024	No sittings
January 2025	No sittings
February 2025	No sittings
March 2025	No sittings
April 2025	No sittings
May 2025	No sittings
June 2025	No sittings

How this brief is put together

This brief follows the Programme commitments listed above and tags the record with the phrases below. Keyword matching can miss business that discusses the issue in other words, and can tag a passing mention.

Show the phrases it uses

A contribution is tagged when its English text contains one of these phrases. Capital letters don't matter, except in abbreviations, which must match exactly. It is also tagged when the title of the agenda item or question it was part of contains one, as long as the contribution is at least 30 words long. The brief is also tagged whenever one of its themes is.

Phrases for the brief as a whole

“climate change”
“climate and nature”
“nature emergency”
“natural environment”
“environmental protection”
“environmental standards”
“environmental targets”
“environmental damage”
“environmental stewardship”

Net zero and climate targets

“net zero”
“net-zero”
“carbon budget”
“carbon budgets”
“emissions”
“climate emergency”
“decarbonisation”
“decarbonise”
“Climate Change Committee”
“Climate and Nature Action Plan”

Rivers and sewage

“rivers”
“Rivers Act”
“river pollution”
“sewage”
“storm overflow”
“storm overflows”
“combined sewer overflow”
“combined sewer overflows”
“phosphate”
“phosphates”
“nutrient pollution”
“River Wye”
“River Usk”
“Welsh Water”
“Dŵr Cymru”
“bathing water”
“water quality”
“water companies”
“Ofwat”
“catchment”
“catchments”

Not counted when part of

“catchment area”
“catchment areas”
“school catchment”

Nature and biodiversity

“biodiversity”
“nature recovery”
“30 by 30”
“nature targets”
“species”
“woodland”
“woodlands”
“tree planting”
“National Forest”
“peatland”
“peatlands”
“national park”
“national parks”
“Office for Environmental Governance”
“environmental governance”
“beavers”

Waste, recycling and pollution

“recycling”
“waste management”
“food waste”
“household waste”
“plastic waste”
“waste collection”
“waste collections”
“waste crime”
“illegal waste”
“landfill”
“fly-tipping”
“litter”
“deposit return”
“deposit return scheme”
“circular economy”
“single-use plastics”
“single-use plastic”
“extended producer responsibility”
“air quality”
“air pollution”
“polluter pays”

Abbreviations

“DRS”

Flooding, drought and extreme weather

“flooding”
“floods”
“flood”
“flood defences”
“flood risk”
“Flood Forum”
“flood alleviation”
“coastal erosion”
“climate adaptation”
“storm damage”
“drought”
“droughts”
“wildfire”
“wildfires”
“heatwave”
“heatwaves”
“extreme weather”

Coal tips and contaminated land

“coal tip”
“coal tips”
“tip safety”
“disused tips”
“Disused Mine and Quarry Tips”
“contaminated land”
“post-industrial land”
“Tylorstown”

Natural Resources Wales

“Natural Resources Wales”

Abbreviations

“NRW”

Climate and nature

Where things stand

Greenhouse gas emissions

Climate and nature

Where things stand

Greenhouse gas emissions

Recycling rate

What the government has promised

Demanding fairness from Westminster: Fair funding

Climate and nature emergency

Governing responsibly

From the Welsh Government

Fine for engine idling to more than triple as Wales cracks down on air pollution

Oral Statement: Update on Deposit Return Scheme

Have your say on new powers to tackle roadside rubbish

In the news

Key moments in the Senedd

Related votes

Who raises it

Which parties raise it

Members who raise it most

Who ministers have met

What people say matters

Written questions

Petitions

In committee

From Senedd Research

Deposit Return Scheme Regulations: In Brief

Fly-tipping in Wales

Latest contributions

Month by month

How this brief is put together

Phrases for the brief as a whole

Net zero and climate targets

Rivers and sewage

Nature and biodiversity

Waste, recycling and pollution

Flooding, drought and extreme weather

Coal tips and contaminated land

Natural Resources Wales