WIREDGOV

Minister for Climate Change Julie James has arrived at COP15 biodiversity negotiations in Montreal, Canada, to influence a ‘game-changing’ Global Biodiversity Framework and sign her commitment to accelerate nature recovery in Wales.

The minister has high hopes that an ambitious deal will be reached by world leaders, to ‘halt the rapid decline of our natural world that threatens all life on planet earth as we now know it’.

Wales jump-started its commitment to reach the proposed ‘30 by 30 target’ included in the deal- to protect and effectively manage 30% land and 30% seas by 2030- with the commissioning of an expert-led ‘biodiversity deep dive’ published in October. In quick response to the panel’s recommendations, the minister tripled Wales’ peatland restoration targets to protect the habitat of species threatened with extinction, such as the iconic curlew. £3 million was also provided for Local Nature Partnerships to support local community led action as part of Team Wales approach and the process to complete the Marine Protected Area network launched.

The deep dive expert group will monitor Wales' progress against the 30 by 30 target. Currently, only 10% of Wales’ terrestrial environment is considered effectively managed.

Wales became the first part of the UK to declare both a nature emergency in 2021 and a climate emergency in 2019, and has since put these crises front and centre of all decision making across government portfolios, whether health, transport or education.

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