The Senedd has argued mainly about river pollution and who should run and regulate water, with Reform UK moving a motion for a Welsh rivers Act on 24 June. Summer wildfires, winter flood preparedness and extreme heat prompted calls for a resilience fund. Members also disputed glass in the deposit-return scheme, net zero and energy targets, and contaminated land and coal tips.
The main arguments
Laura Anne Jones (Reform UK) moved a motion for a Welsh rivers Act on sewage accountability and nutrient management. Llyr Gruffydd (Plaid Cymru) said the Government would take control of water and strengthen regulation instead. Contributions: [1]
May 2021Mar 2026
2,465 contributions in the Sixth Senedd touched on this. The busiest month was Jun 2023, with 191.
Who raises it
Labour63%
Conservative18%
Plaid18%
Lib Dem1%
Independent1%
Reform0%
Share of the 1,847 contributions on this subject, by the speaker's party.
Jane Dodds (Welsh Liberal Democrats) said bills rose over 30 per cent in two years while pay stayed high. Rhun ap Iorwerth (Plaid Cymru) wants Welsh Water in Welsh hands. David Mills (Reform UK) asked for concrete action. Contributions: [1][2][3]
James Evans (Reform UK) said farmers are part of the solution and rules should target polluters. Paul Rock (Wales Green Party) named industrialised agriculture and waste water as the main sources. Mike Hedges (Welsh Labour) questioned ending the slurry closed period. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Laura Anne Jones (Reform UK) called the wildfire response 'too little, too late'. Jayne Bryant (Welsh Labour) said the Senedd should have been recalled. Anthony Slaughter (Wales Green Party) asked for a climate shock fund for winter. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Darren Millar (Welsh Conservatives) said including glass in the deposit-return scheme adds cost and inconvenience. Llyr Gruffydd (Plaid Cymru) said glass brings extra benefits and a route to reuse, with a four-year transition. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Darren Millar (Welsh Conservatives) said the UK emissions trading scheme exports emissions and jobs. Jane Dodds (Welsh Liberal Democrats) said NFU Cymru wants net zero by 2040. Paul Rock (Wales Green Party) worried that dropping an explicit renewables target could cause other harms. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Niamh Salkeld (Plaid Cymru) led a motion on contaminated land, and Llyr Gruffydd (Plaid Cymru) backed the polluter-pays principle. Vikki Howells (Welsh Labour) welcomed coal tips as a priority and asked about talks with the UK Government. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Where the parties stand
Plaid Cymru
In government, Members set out water reform, a Welsh regulator and a climate and nature action plan. Llyr Gruffydd defended glass in the deposit-return scheme. Rhun ap Iorwerth called a climate and resilience summit for 22 October. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Welsh LabourShifted
Members press the Government on river pollution, coal tips, and flood and wildfire resilience. They criticised the Cabinet's lack of a prominent environment role and the national park decision. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
How this has shifted: In May and June Labour stressed river pollution and the environment's place in the Cabinet. By late September it was pressing for a climate resilience fund.
Welsh Conservatives
Members opposed glass in the deposit-return scheme and criticised the UK emissions trading scheme. Andrew RT Davies said NRW should become a focused regulator. Janet Finch-Saunders said pollution incidents in her area were not caused by farmers. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Reform UK
Members back a Welsh rivers Act, oppose current net zero policy and criticised the wildfire and flood responses. They said farmers are part of the solution and opposed glass in the deposit-return scheme. Contributions: [1][2][3][4][5][6]
Welsh Liberal Democrats
Jane Dodds pressed on water bills and executive pay, asked for a review of Dŵr Cymru, and called for faster action on the climate emergency and community energy. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Wales Green PartyShifted
Members asked for reporting on climate and nature progress, protection of green space, a coal tip extraction ban and an extreme weather resilience fund. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
How this has shifted: In June Paul Rock asked for termly reporting on climate and nature action. From September Anthony Slaughter pressed for a climate shock fund, later an extreme weather resilience fund.
What the government is being pressed on
1Ministers were pressed on water bills, pay and sewage. Rhun ap Iorwerth said Plaid wants Welsh Water in Welsh hands and regulation made in Wales. A vision for the reformed water sector is due later this autumn. Contributions: [1][2][3]
2Vikki Howells (Welsh Labour) said the First Minister did not directly answer on a climate resilience fund. Rhun ap Iorwerth said the 22 October summit would focus on practical action on wildfires. Contributions: [1][2]
3Members asked how ready Wales is for winter floods. Llyr Gruffydd cited over £85 million for flood risk management, 273,000 properties at risk and nature-based solutions, and said no Government could meet the full cost. Contributions: [1][2][3]
4Members asked why glass is included. Llyr Gruffydd said it brings extra benefits and a path to reuse, and that Exchange for Change will run the scheme, with implementation by October next year. Contributions: [1][2][3]
5Vikki Howells asked about talks with the UK Government on coal tips and contaminated land. Llyr Gruffydd said the Government is pressing the UK Treasury and will make the case at next year's spending review. Contributions: [1][2]
What the public is asking for
Petitions ask for an inquiry into Dŵr Cymru (2,172 signatures), a halt to developments on peatlands (2,093), a televised climate and nature briefing (1,287) and testing for PCBs and other contaminants (1,278).
Who ministers are meeting
Ministers have met water and regulatory bodies (Welsh Water, NRW, the Disused Tips Authority), national parks, industry groups on the deposit-return scheme and net zero, environmental groups such as WWF Cymru and Keep Wales Tidy, and fire services on wildfires.
In the Sixth Senedd (2021 to 2026)
From the previous Senedd's record, for issues that run across both. The rest of this analysis covers the Seventh Senedd only.
In the Sixth Senedd, debate centred on the nature emergency, storm overflows and sewage, and Dŵr Cymru's performance. Members also argued over devolving water.
Janet Finch-Saunders (Welsh Conservatives) said in 2021 there was no action on legally binding nature targets. In 2022 Delyth Jewell (Plaid Cymru) said her party led calls for the nature emergency and binding targets. Contributions: [1][2]
In 2022 Llyr Gruffydd (Plaid Cymru) said his committee found overflows are not the main cause of poor river quality but still contribute. Julie James (Welsh Labour) said many factors affect water quality. Contributions: [1][2]
In October 2023 Jane Dodds (Welsh Liberal Democrats) condemned revelations of illegal sewage dumping by Dŵr Cymru. Adam Price (Plaid Cymru) noted Ofwat rated it a laggard. Contributions: [1][2]
In 2023 Rhys ab Owen (Independent) argued for full devolution of water. Julie James (Welsh Labour) set out a pragmatic approach using existing powers over strategic water investment. Contributions: [1][2]
Written by AI on 30 October 2026 from 240 contributions in the Senedd between 12 May 2026 and 22 October 2026, with the petitions and ministers' meetings on this brief. Each point links to the contributions it draws on; check them before quoting. How the analysis is written.
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)
Net greenhouse gas emissions from Wales each year, in million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. The total includes international aviation and shipping, and subtracts the carbon taken up by land and forests.
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.
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.
Ensure climate action and nature are prioritised and effectively coordinated across government, embedding decarbonisation, sustainability and environmental protection across all portfolios.
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.
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.
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.
Establish a strong and independent Office for Environmental Governance Wales to hold public authorities to account for delivering environmental targets.
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.
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.
From the Welsh Government
The Welsh Government's latest press releases and Cabinet statements on this brief.
Each bar is the share of that party's speeches and questions in the Sixth Senedd that touched this brief, so large and small parties can be compared. The upright line marks the chamber as a whole: 1.3%.
Ministers' meetings with outside organisations and their engagements on this brief, from the register the Welsh Government publishes every three months. 3 since the 2026 election; the latest:
18 August 2026
VC Gallery Woodland Wellbeing Project
Meeting, Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability
10 August 2026
Brecon Beacons, Pembrokeshire, Eryri National Parks
Meeting, Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability
8 July 2026
Recorded speech for National Parks Wales Members' Seminar
Meeting, Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability
30% of Welsh adults said climate change and policies to deal with it would be very important to their vote.
Ipsos asked 747 Welsh adults aged 16+ between 2 April 2026 and 8 April 2026, before the 2026 Senedd election. People could choose as many issues as they liked. More on public opinion.
Written questions
136 written questions to the Welsh Government on this brief in the Sixth Senedd, 132 answered so far. The latest:
Tagged for: “nature recovery”, “biodiversity”, “environmental governance”, “nature targets”Official Record
Month by month
191
3
202120222023202420252026
Contributions tagged in each month of the Sixth Senedd. No sittings were held in August 2021, August 2022, August 2023, December 2024, 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
May 2021
2
June 2021
17
July 2021
38
August 2021
No sittings
September 2021
123
October 2021
47
November 2021
72
December 2021
49
January 2022
72
February 2022
47
March 2022
61
April 2022
9
May 2022
50
June 2022
58
July 2022
23
August 2022
No sittings
September 2022
31
October 2022
81
November 2022
67
December 2022
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.
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.
