PRESS RELEASE : Welsh Minister for Climate Change’s response to COP15 agreement [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 20 December 2022.

The Minister for Climate Change, Julie James, has responded to the latest agreement that has been reached at COP15 in Montreal.

The Minister said:

I’ve just seen the news coming through that there has been an agreement at COP15.

It’s a bit early to talk about the detail, but it looks like a deal has been done – that there is protection for indigenous people, that the targets have been agreed and some of the finance too.

We’ll have to have a look at the detail, but it’s probably not strong enough on pesticide control and some of the other protections, but what will be really important now is how we get the implementation of it done. These targets need to be met by the end of the decade and Wales will certainly play its part in making sure that happens.

For us, going forward, we will be putting our 30×30 targets in place, we’ll be putting our environmental protections in place, we’ll be learning from people all over the world – in particular in Quebec – on forestry and nature restoration. We’ll be able to be a global leader, I think, in how we get from where we are now to good environmental status for 30% of our land by 2030.

What was really great, when we were there (at COP), was the pressure coming from the seventh summit of ICLEI – the alliance of sub-national governments, provinces, cities and regions from across the world – there was huge pressure upwards towards the UN member states to get something done. The real hope for the world is that those are the people, on the ground, who will be actually implementing the legislation and the protection.

I think it’s now all about making sure we keep those global alliances, get the implementation done as fast as possible and keep the pressure on the UK Government, and other UN member states, to put the finance in place – to put their money where their mouth is, frankly.