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Representatives from 6 Welsh organisations have come together to launch 6 Principles for the Senedd elections in May 2021. These were first revealed during Wales Climate Week. Our aim is to create a louder voice to demand that the political parties of Wales prioritise the climate and nature crisis within their election manifestos. We are challenging each political party to endorse these 6 Principles, to ensure that Wales is a country that is fair and just to everyone, globally responsible and protects future generations.
The founding organisations are: the Future Generations Commission for Wales, Coed Cadw /The Woodland Trust in Wales, the Centre for Alternative Technology, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), Whale and Dolphin Conservation, and Extinction Rebellion Cymru. Other organisations and individuals are now invited to join the campaign and adopt the 6 Principles.
The Six Principles to tackle the climate and ecological emergency are:
- Do what it takes to play our part in limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Centigrade, with much deeper and faster reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
- Champion natural climate solutions to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, halt the decline in wildlife, restore nature and help manage flood risk.
- Accept our entire global ecological footprint caused by all the goods we buy, the food we eat, and the supply chains we use.
- Help politicians to take bold decisions by holding Citizens’ Assemblies and other forms of public participation, to get to net zero faster and with fairness for all.
- Make the future well-being of young people, and the generations to come, the centre of our concern, and the focus of our plans.
- Support economic sectors which create green jobs in a low carbon revolution that will improve our environment, homes and communities and safeguard our health.
Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner said:
“As Future Generations Commissioner for Wales I will continue to highlight climate change as the key challenge for future generations. We need rapid action now, and I’ll keep challenging Welsh Government and other public bodies to take that action. The climate emergency is already happening and we have to decarbonise and help people to transition to new, green ways of living and working.”
Peter Tyldesley, from the Centre for Alternative Technology said:
“Recent UK polls show that there is broad support across all of society for delivering net zero and protecting the environment, however, we are clearly not tackling the climate and biodiversity emergency at the scale and speed required.
The UK Government has just announced a target of 68% reduction in emissions by 2030, to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. While Wales cannot formally submit a climate action plan to this international process, it can adopt policies underwritten by the 6 Principles for the Senedd Elections next year. This would demonstrate Wales’ commitment to a 2030 carbon-cutting target in line with global efforts to limit global heating by 1.5C, and help raise global ambition ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow next year.”
Nigel Pugh, from Coed Cadw, the Woodland Trust in Wales said:
“Coed Cadw sees our Hedges and Edges’ proposed agricultural payment scheme, which is part of the Big Climate Fightback, as an urgent intervention in reversing and reducing the dual climate and nature crisis. Hedges and Edges works at landscape scale, 82% of Wales is agricultural land, and vitally, it works for farmers. All farmers could deliver its principles, if supported properly, with huge benefits for the community, habitats, flood reduction and employment opportunities.”
Extinction Rebellion Cymru said:
“This decade is the world’s last chance to act or face devastating consequences, and our next Senedd will be in charge of Wales for half of it. This is the moment for every voice in Wales to join together, and ask politicians to take a stand. There is a tremendous body of work in Wales on how to tackle climate breakdown and the collapse of wildlife, which is contained in the reports we’ve listed under our 6 Principles. We’re asking all political parties to use these 6 principles and the reports when writing their manifestos. We know what to do; now we need a Senedd with the courage to do it at the pace and scale that is needed.”
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