FIRST minister Mark Drakeford will board a train from Cardiff to Glasgow today (Monday, November 1) to join world leaders for the UN Climate Conference in Scotland.

His message to people in Wales is the power of collective action. Smaller countries, like Wales, can achieve great things when everyone works together – and that’s the difference the world needs now to tackle climate change.

Wales was the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency, in April 2019, and since then has:

  • Published a net zero plan, setting out a decade of action to tackle the climate crisis.
  • Started a roads review into new road projects in Wales, recognising the need to move away from spending money on projects that encourage more people to drive, instead redirecting funding towards maintaining existing roads and investing in real alternatives to private transport, such as public and active transport.
  • Committed to build 20,000 high quality, low carbon homes for rent over the next five years.

Wales punches well above its weight in terms of recycling and proudly holds the position of the best country for household recycling in the UK, the second best in Europe and third best in the world.

“This is crunch time for us all,” said Mr Drakeford.

“We’re embarking on a decade of real action in Wales. As we’ve shown with our world-leading recycling rates, doing the small things in our everyday lives really can and does make a difference.

“But we need to do much more over the coming 10 years, than we have in the last 30, to reach our net zero target. To achieve this, we need everyone to pull together – we need everyone to play their part.

“By working together and taking collective action we can deliver a stronger, fairer and greener Wales for future generations.

“In Glasgow, at the COP26 conference, we will show that Wales is ready to play its part. I’m also looking forward to using the conference as an opportunity to learn from others.”

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