The future is Green

Fersiwn Gymraeg ar gael yma.

The Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit present Wales with a unique opportunity to implement a Green Recovery. This would be a fair way that ensures that actions to rebuild our economy also address the climate and nature crises and secure a healthy environment for us all. 

Why is a Green Recovery needed? 

Despite its stunning landscapes and beautiful scenery Wales is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. The State of Nature 2019 reports that one in six species in Wales are threatened with extinction and the State of Natural Resources Report concludes that none of our ecosystems are resilient. World leading economists are telling us that a Green Recovery will deliver greater economic benefits and provide a healthier, fairer society. But this won’t happen unless we restore nature and the ecosystems nature creates and on which we all depend.

What actions are needed for a Green Recovery? 

There is clear evidence that if we make the right decisions now, we can recover better and build the equitable, climate-safe, nature-rich, healthy Wales that we all want and need. RSPB Cymru is proposing a five-step pathway to this sustainable future, which would ensure Wales leads the world in implementing a positive economic, societal and environmental recovery. Taking these bold steps will reduce our exposure to the risks of ecological and environmental breakdown and help underpin a resilient society and a vibrant, nature-rich economy for this and future generations.

 The five steps to a Green Recovery:

1. Sustainable jobs and infrastructure:

• Promote infrastructure, economies and businesses that enhance, rather than damage, the environment. Ensure solutions to the climate emergency do not add to the nature emergency.
• Establish a Green Workforce employability and training scheme in areas of work that contribute to the recovery of Wales’ natural environment and carbon-neutral economy.

2. Strong environmental protections:

• Strengthen the laws that protect the natural world and introduce legally binding nature recovery and more ambitious climate change targets. Allocate adequate funds to deliver both commitments.
• Make the planning system work for nature on land and at sea and introduce laws that require all developments to deliver a net benefit for biodiversity.

3. Resilient and nature-rich land and seas:

• Establish and fund connected ecological networks of special places for nature on land and sea. Create new protected areas where they are needed to save nature.
• Introduce new policies that will ensure the sustainable management of natural resources on land and at sea, and which guarantee value for public money.

4. Healthy citizens:

• Increase public access to urban and rural nature-rich green spaces and introduce Green Prescribing as a means of promoting active lifestyles and emotional well-being.
• Develop and implement a Sustainable Food Strategy that drives and rewards sustainable food production, addresses food waste and promotes healthy, sustainable diets and consumption for all.

5. Welsh Government leadership:

• Integrate restoring resilient ecosystems and tackling climate change across all policy areas and departments to maximise synergies, benefits and budgets.
• Ensure all publicly owned land is well managed for nature and protected sites and other important natural assets in public ownership attain favourable condition.

Let’s invest in nature for the benefit of us all. Let’s invest in a Green Recovery.