Climate and nature

Get a weekly email on what happened on climate and nature. Free.

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.

Have your say: 4 open consultations on this subject

Formation of a consolidated Welsh public energy company, closes 30 November 2026
Stationary vehicle engine idling: local authority guidance, closes 4 December 2026
New underground-first policy for 11-132 kV electricity lines in Wales, closes 15 January 2027

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 Nature and biodiversity. The Programme commitments are the brief's as a whole.

Statements and debates: 11; in the Sixth Senedd
Contributions: 2,465; in the Sixth Senedd
Written questions: 136; in the Sixth Senedd

How often it comes up

On this page

The debate so far
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

The debate so far

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]

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.

Source: Welsh Government, Emissions of Greenhouse Gases by Year. Next update due on 30 June 2027. Checked on 30 October 2026.

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)

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

How we show official statistics Figures on this brief quoted in the Senedd (3)

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 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.

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”

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%

The debate so far

The main arguments

The debate so far

The main arguments

Where the parties stand

Plaid Cymru

Welsh LabourShifted

Welsh Conservatives

Reform UK

Welsh Liberal Democrats

Wales Green PartyShifted

What the government is being pressed on

What the public is asking for

Who ministers are meeting

In the Sixth Senedd (2021 to 2026)

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

In the news

Key moments in the Senedd

Related votes

Debate: Stage 4 of the Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Bill

Amendment 25

Amendment 26

Amendment 32

Amendment 1

Amendment 47

Amendment 34

Amendment 38

Amendment 39

Amendment 40

Amendment 4

Amendment 5A

Amendment 5

Amendment 6

Amendment 31

Amendment 14

Amendment 41

Amendment 15

Amendment 16

Amendment 17

Amendment 42

Amendment 18

Amendment 19

Amendment 43

Amendment 20

Amendment 21

Amendment 93

Amendment 31

Amendment 94

Amendment 154

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

Latest contributions

Month by month

How this brief is put together

Phrases for the brief as a whole