The Welsh Government’s announcement that it planned to proceed with the M4 Relief Road south of Newport came just a matter of days after its flagship sustainable development legislation, the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Bill, was formally laid in the National Assembly (7 July 2014). Sadly, the fundamental idea behind the Bill was challenged by the Government itself, therefore, even before the Bill had been enacted, and thus immediately brought into question its credibility.
The Bill, due to be approved by the Welsh Assembly next spring, will require public sector bodies in Wales, such as councils, hospitals, universities – and the Welsh Government itself – to plan and deliver ‘well-being’ for our children and grandchildren. Well-being’ means having the basic needs of each and every one of us met, but fairly and within the resource capacity of the planet – sustainable development. This should be good news for us – but what about animals and plants – will they benefit too from this new law?
The State of Nature report showed us that 60 per cent of more than 3000 assessed species across the UK have declined in recent decades – will the prospects for the future be any better if the FG Bill is approved?
The short answer is that we don’t know. But one of six goals in the FG Bill aims at a ‘biodiverse natural environment with healthy functioning ecosystems’, which basically should mean wildlife that has recovered and been restored. We shall be carefully examining the Bill over the coming months to assess whether it could do more to deliver for wildlife in Wales.
The Welsh Government is also committed to introducing an Environment Bill in the spring of 2015 and RSPB Cymru is seeking a commitment in this Bill for a target to drive wildlife recovery. But wildlife will not recover and thrive unless we make changes to our daily lives – like reducing the fossil fuel energy we generate and consume. We need to be more careful and have more regard towards future generations, both of ourselves and of all other life with which we share the planet.
There is a long way to go before we are living in harmony with nature in a sustainable world. However, the Bill creates at least the potential to deliver a more sustainable future for both wildlife and the people of Wales.
We shall continue to work constructively with decision-makers in Wales to put into law an Act that will truly meet the needs of future generations and wildlife. Succeeding generations will not thank us for destroying the wildlife inheritance that they have a right to expect, and we can only do this by changing the ways we live, work and think today. We can do it – and this Bill is a start!
If you want to read more about this Bill, please go to: http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-business-fourth-assembly-laid-docs/pri-ld9831-e.pdf?langoption=3&ttl=PRI-LD9831%20-%20Well-being%20of%20Future%20Generations%20%28Wales%29%20Bill