From the record - Copenhagen

Leanne Wood: Thank you for your statement Minister, and I welcome, in particular, your remarks that, regardless of the fact that no binding agreement was reached, the scientific imperative remains and that the lack of agreement should not deflect us from being as ambitious as possible.

I can see your argument for not focusing on what has not been agreed, but I am sure that you share my bitter disappointment at the eventual outcome of the Copenhagen summit. Many world leaders reacted angrily to the private agreement, which they saw as a stitch-up between the heads of countries that are among the greatest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world.

The problem with the failure to reach agreement at Copenhagen is that we do not have time to lose. The climate science tells us—I know that you are well aware of this—that we must act quickly if we are to avoid catastrophic and irreversible climate change. Some islands are already disappearing underwater, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa are undergoing rapid desertification, forcing people to move, which risks creating conflict over access to resources.

Some world leaders are trying hard to manage these drastic changes, while others preside over a private stitch-up. I am sure that you will agree that the anger over the failure of Copenhagen is understandable and justified. One of the world leaders angered by the failure of Copenhagen is Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia. He denounced industrialised countries for pledging only £10 billion a year to help countries to meet the challenges of climate change while spending trillions to fight unnecessary wars. As a result, Evo Morales is organising an alternative climate conference in April. Would you be prepared to look at what Evo Morales has proposed for this alternative conference, and would you be open to the idea of ensuring that Wales is represented at such an event?

Finally, I have a question about the funding that has been announced to support the coffee planters in the Mbale region of Uganda. I would like assurances from you that none of the money that is to go to what sounds like a worthwhile project will be of any benefit to the Ugandan Government, which is currently in the process of trying to legislate to introduce the death penalty for people who are caught for just being gay. I am sure that that is abhorrent to all of us in the Assembly, so I would be grateful for your assurances on that matter.

Food security

The Westminster government has today announced it's twenty year food strategy. Finally, there is recognition that we will not be able to take food for granted in the future. Since government adviser Professor John Beddington predicted a climate change-induced "perfect storm" of food shortages, water scarcity and insufficient energy resources, people have been waiting to hear how the government plans to respond.

One of the best ways to prepare ourselves for rocketing food and oil prices, which many scientists believe we will see in the near future as a result of peak oil, is to enable as many people as possible to grow their own food. There are long waiting lists for allotments in all areas of Wales. Whatever demand is there should be encouraged.

I welcome any moves to increase the land available for food production, and I know that Plaid's Rural Affairs Minister in Wales, Elin Jones is looking at ways to increase the availability of land for allotments and community gardens. I also welcome today's indications from Westminster that the government also wants less food waste, more food bought in season and for people to buy sustainably-farmed food. It would be useful to have tight timescales and targets for these aspirations, but we also need to go much further and faster in terms of reducing food imports and tackling a wasteful food/supermarket culture. This strategy is a good start, but food price problems could hit us quickly and without warning, as some countries saw in 2008 with horrendous consequences. Surely it makes sense for governments to help and enable communities on as small a scale as possible to build up their own resiliance to cope with a potential food or fuel crisis.

Copenhagen fail

The end of the UN climate conference in Copenhagen has ended in disappointment, if not disaster. There's no legally binding agreement and no agreement as to which countries should cut what levels of greenhouse gases.

Leaders of many non-industrialised countries have reacted with anger to the private agreement signed by the heads of some of the world's richest and biggest emitting countries. It's been widely acknowleded that what looks like an accidental deal by the USA, China, India, Brasil and South Africa goes no-where near far enough. So what happens now?

The climate science tells us that we have to shift very quickly if we are to avoid irreversible climate change. Parts of Africa are already turning to desert. People in the UK are at greater risk of flooding. Some islands face disappearing under water. The anger from the leaders of those countries who are already dealing with the consequences of climate change is perfectly understandable. They've been unable to have a say, yet they can see and feel the effects of the richest countries carrying on emitting as we are. This can't be the end of these talks. Failure to reach agreement is not an option.

From the record - prepearing for Copenhagen Climate talks

Assembly Record of proceedings 3rd November 2009
Leanne Wood: Plaid Cymru supports the calls from the environment movement for wealthy industrialised countries to commit to a cut of at least 40 per cent in domestic emissions by 2020. This call is not just about getting the UK Government to agree to such a target, but about persuading other industrialised countries to agree that a 40 per cent cut in emissions is a fair and just approach for the sake of a global deal. If you agree with that call, Minister, there are clear implications for the One Wales Government and the commitment to cut our emissions by 3 per cent per year after 2011. I know that the climate change commission is looking at the feasibility of emission cuts of 3 per cent, 6 per cent and 9 per cent, so I would be grateful to hear whether you think that Wales can commit to cutting emissions by 40 per cent by 2020.

We also support calls for the rich industrialised countries — those of us who have grown relatively rich on the back of fantastically high emissions historically — to provide additional money for non-industrialised countries to grow in a way that does not cause more harm to our planet.

We are all aware that climate change will bring more desertification, floods, droughts and famines. Some countries will need support to cope with the mass movements of people that are bound to arise as a result of that, as well as the finance to green their existing industries. Oxfam has called for an additional 0.7 per cent on top of existing aid commitments. I would be grateful to hear the Welsh Assembly Government’s view on that.

We would also like to see action to reduce the use of large-scale biofuels, as well as action to halt the destruction of the world’s forests. We recognise that we need to make adjustments to our own lifestyles, which help to promote the destruction of those forests. We should be making strong representations to the UK Government, which is the body that has the seat at the top table in Copenhagen. We in Wales should be prepared to make our own share of the cuts.

My final point is that Plaid Cymru is of the view that Wales should have direct representation in Copenhagen. We should have our own seat at that top table, and I would be grateful to hear whether the Minister agrees with that.

Jane Davidson: An awful lot of figures are bandied around in this debate. With regard to some of the early issues regarding the targets, the initial target in the Climate Change Act 2008 was to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 34 per cent by 2020, against a 1990 baseline. There was then a call for a 40 per cent reduction by 2020, against a 1990 baseline. To look at our reductions against a 1990 baseline, greenhouse gas emissions are now 14.7 per cent lower, and carbon dioxide emissions are 9.5 per cent lower, as shown by the figures for 2007 that I announced in September.

The Climate Change Commission for Wales met with the independent Committee on Climate Change, which came to launch its report in Wales on the further action that needs to be taken, and when it should be taken, in the context of the UK Government meeting its 80 per cent target by 2050, it said clearly that our 3 per cent reduction target in relation to our devolved responsibilities was the most ambitious target in the UK; it is over and above the reductions that will come through the EU emissions trading scheme for example — for the large emitters — which will also improve reductions. Therefore, the figures are complex. We are determined to achieve a minimum of a 3 per cent reduction. Further work has been undertaken by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, which is probably the foremost climate change centre in the United Kingdom, in looking at reductions of 3 per cent, 6 per cent and 9 per cent a year, and what those would look like. That work is due to be published before Copenhagen, so we will have a chance to look at that as well.

The Government has always made it clear that the 3 per cent reduction target was a political target; science leads us in a further direction. If every country in the world achieved a 3 per cent reduction, we would not restrict global warming to a 2 per cent rise. Therefore, in a sense, there are major stakes for us all. I am looking at the maximum reductions that can be achieved in our final climate change strategy, which will come out in the early part of the new year.

I agree with you on the relationship with developing countries. One important element of the role that Wales has been given in the nrg4sd, and others, has been our commitment to sustainable development and the ecological footprint. The ecological footprint relates to bringing our share of the Earth’s resources down to our fair share, in the same kind of timescale as in the context of climate change. We have already put more than £0.5 million into our Wales for Africa programme, some of which will contribute towards the territorial approach to climate change, whereby we are one of the 10 pilot regions in the world of the United Nations development programme, and we have a link with the Mbale region of Uganda. That gives us a real opportunity to work on that agenda.

Save Vestas

The Vestas wind turbine factory in Newport on the Isle of Wight was due to close on 31st July this year. Workers who have occupied the factory have been sacked - they were given their notices with pizzas delivered on behalf of Vestas bosses. Their future is uncertain today after a local county court's view. A group of environmental activists have occupied another site at Cowes, and have vowed to remain there until the sacked workers are reinstated.

If the company have their way, six hundred jobs will be lost immediately, and many more jobs that depend on Vestas will follow. It is the only firm in Britain manufacturing wind turbine blades: making it important, not just important for the workers on the Isle of Wight, but for renewable energy in Wales as well.

The climate crisis tells us that wind energy which has to form a big part of our future. With planned expansion of wind power throughout the UK, it makes sense for that new demand to be met from sources as close as possible to where the turbines are to be situated. Ideally, we want wind turbine manufacturing in Wales. Transporting the turbines from overseas defeats the object.

Wind turbine manufacturing needs expansion, not destruction, especially in the current environmental and economic climate. The UK government bailed out bankers to the tune of £1.3 trillion to prevent the demise of 'major' companies. But when it comes to small and medium-sized firms which could save the planet they refuse to intervene. What happened to that Green New Deal?

The RMT's Bob Crow was at the court hearing today and has made a solidarity visit to the plant. I support his call for management to re-enter negotiations and for government intervention. I have written to support the campaign; you can do the same by sending an email to savevestas@gmail.com.

A Welsh Food Revolution?

There are many good reasons to change the way we source our food. The price of food is on the increase, we don't fully understand the effects of additives in processed food, climate change is turning parts of the world into desert and biofuels have replaced food crops resulting in food shortages. It is estimated that world food supplies would have to double in the next 40 years to feed a population of nine billion, while at the same time, farmers must cope with climate change, oil price rises and new plant and animal diseases.

A report from MPs out last week said "Only 10% of the fruit consumed in the UK by value is grown here. Apple orchards have reduced by nearly 33% in just 10 years and less than a third of the apples eaten here are grown here", while in 2005 Britain imported 1,500 tonnes of potatoes and exported exactly the same amount.

According to Sustain

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has calculated that, globally, agriculture generates 30% of total man-made emissions of greenhouse gases, including half of methane emissions and more than half of the emissions of nitrous oxide.
In the EU, over 30% of the greenhouse gases from consumer purchases come from the food and drink sector.
Latest conservative estimates from the Food Climate Research Network in the UK suggest that almost one-fifth of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions are associated with our food and drink.

We have to change the way we source our food and the single greatest contribution we can all make in reducing our individual carbon emissions is to eat as much of our own-grown food as possible.

Growing-your-own provides good exercise and has obvious other health and financial benefits. It can also help to bring people together. On my allotment, young and older people work together sharing plants and tips in a spirit of communalism. We all rely on each other - a plant disease on one plot can affect us all.

Demand for allotments is growing. At the beginning of the year I did some research which showed that there are 2,500 people on waiting lists for an allotment in Wales and that some people will have to wait up to nine years! The 1908 Small Holdings and Allotment Act says the council has a duty to provide land if they are satisfied there is demand and if six electors petition that council, their representations have to be taken into consideration. Since then I have found plenty of examples of groups of people who have petitioned their council only to be told that the council has considered their request, but there is no land available.

I've visited community owned urban food production gardens in Cuba and I'm keen to see if we can do something similar here in Wales. Tomorrow, I am hosting a "summit" of all the contacts I have made while working on allotments and I am hoping that the meeting will generate ideas for making more land available for those who want to grow their own.

"Go back to Libya"

The BBC reported the latest outburst from the leader of the British Nazis. Unite Against Fascism give their take on it here.

Newly elected BNP MEP Nick Griffin last week said

"But the only measure, sooner or later, which is going to stop immigration and stop large numbers of sub-Saharan Africans dying on the way to get over here is to get very tough with those coming over. Frankly, they need to sink several of those boats."

Climate change is turning productive land into desert in sub-Saharan Africa. Large numbers of people are already being displaced and forecasts expect the situation to get much worse. And the British Nazi's solution is to sink their boats. Apparently though, this doesn't mean murder.

"I didn't say anyone should be murdered at sea - I say boats should be sunk, they can throw them a life raft and they can go back to Libya. But Europe has sooner or later to close its borders or its simply going to be swamped by the Third World."

Well, that's alright then!

(thanks to Lancaster UAF for photo)

Wales - 13th Worst Carbon Dioxide Emitting Country in the World

Leaving aside that the "report" is one of a series of regular research briefings prepared by the Assembly's Research Unit to update AMs on the latest available data on climate change, this article makes some serious points.

Climate change is fast turning into a climate crisis. We are already witnessing melting ice caps, rising sea levels, more natural disasters such as floods, droughts and storms, unreliable and shifting agricultural patterns, the loss of wildlife and species extinction and the destruction of sea life habitats. Today we are watching the tragic consequences unfold from the fires in Australia. Very few serious people are now denying what professor Sir David King, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government called back in 2004 "the biggest problem facing us globally this century. There is no bigger problem. The threat is quite simple; it's a threat to our civilisation."

Gordon James from Friends of the Earth is right when he says “The abundant political rhetoric we have had on the subject must be replaced by courageous action that will bring about big reductions in emissions in the very near future. Last week’s decision to give the go-ahead to a large power station at Pembroke instead of the far more efficient combined heat and power systems just shows how politicians are still delivering business as usual responses rather than the radical policy changes that are now essential.”

The story is taken up in the Western Mail editorial which says "Decisions like approving a huge opencast mine at Merthyr Tydfil and a gas-fired power station at Pembroke, which does not conform to the highest possible environmental standards, suggest the political commitment to combating climate change is no more than skin deep. It is no wonder that members of the public are confused by the very apparent mixed messages they are being fed."

The Assembly had no say over the LNG power station in Pembrokeshire. Recognising this lack of power as a major barrier to progress on cutting Welsh carbon dioxide emissions, the editorial goes on to argue for the Assembly to "have planning control over the biggest power station applications – the very plants that have the greatest impact on climate change." Of course, I agree that this would be a good step, but we've still got a long way to go before we resolve the jobs versus environment arguement in a way which doesn't involve building more and more massive polluters.

Join the Plot

MP's voted this week for the expansion of Heathrow. Despite some a backbench rebellion, profit was once again put before our environment. The new runway will be an environmental disaster and will make Heathrow the largest source of CO2 emissions in the UK. The strength of opposition to the expansion from rebel MPs, local communities and by the protest camps has made this issue a difficult one for Brown's government.

Greenpeace believes the fight isn't over yet. They say that BAA will face many hurdles before they get their tarmac laid. Greenpeace have bought a plot of land with a view to stopping the runway's construction. They've been joined on the deeds to this land by comedian Alistair McGowan, actress Emma Thompson and the Tory Zac Goldsmith. Greenpeace are asking everyone else to 'join the plot' and sign up and stand beside them in hopefully stopping the runway from going ahead.

Sign up here.