Liz Saville Roberts MP: Climate Timeline

• Timeline
• Votes
• Speeches
• Tweets
• Contact

Liz Saville Roberts's Climate-related Tweets, Speeches & Votes

We've found the following climate-related tweets, speeches & votes by Liz Saville Roberts

• 10 Dec 2024: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: “The increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as Storm Darragh due to climate change underscores the urgent nee… [Source]

• 10 Dec 2024: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: “The increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as Storm Darragh due to climate change underscores the urgent nee… [Source]

• 20 Nov 2024: Tweet

  Farmers are the backbone of our rural economy. Their work is crucial for food security, combating climate change and preserving the Welsh language. I joined @Plaid_Cymru colleagues @BenMLake @llinos_medi and @AnnBremenda in solidarity with our farmers???????????????????????????????? https://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/news/dwyfor-meirionnydd-mp-accuses-labour-of-overlooking-the-struggles-of-welsh-farmers-740968 [Source]

• 19 Nov 2024: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Plaid Cymru MPs met farmers from across Wales today. Their work is crucial for food security, combating climate change, a… [Source]

• 04 Oct 2024: Tweet

  RT @llinos_medi: Investment in carbon capture is welcome, but not at the expense of proven clean energy. Last month, renewable energy aucti… [Source]

• 05 Sep 2024: Tweet

  RT @llinos_medi: The latest contracts for difference auction for renewable energy showed that Wales received only 1.63% of the total auctio… [Source]

• 20 Aug 2024: Tweet

  RT @AnnBremenda: Croeso i Gaerfyrddin, Brif Weinidog! ???? Carmarthenshire is rich in sustainable energy, but home to some of UK's poorest co… [Source]

• 25 Jul 2024: Tweet

  North Wales pays some of the UK's highest energy bills - so the UK Government’s plan must benefit Welsh households, not just private companies. Devolving the Crown Estate is key to keeping renewable energy profits in Wales, rather than siphoned off to London. https://twitter.com/politicoeurope/status/1816360931892269240 [Source]

• 24 Jul 2024: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Profits made from leasing the seabed for renewable energy projects must be invested back into Welsh communities. Devolve… [Source]

• 24 Jul 2024: Tweet

  RT @llinos_medi: It makes no sense that profits from renewable energy projects are funnelled out of poor coastal communities to fund the re… [Source]

• 17 Jul 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  Of course, we face the immediate challenge to the economy in Wales of the situation of Port Talbot. I think everybody in this House will be very much aware that we need security of supply when it comes to virgin steel for all the other projects that we hope to bring forward with net zero. The UK Government need to be working closely on finding some solution to what is happening in Port Talbot.

  Full debate: Debate on the Address

• 17 Jul 2024: Tweet

  There were nevertheless measures that Plaid Cymru welcome. If done properly, GB Energy could lead to positive green energy developments in Wales. Plaid Cymru will scrutinise plans to ensure Welsh households see a direct benefit in their energy bills. [Source]

• 27 Jun 2024: Tweet

  RT @RhunapIorwerth: This is not acceptable and it’s not the just transition that steelworkers deserve. Governments have done too little to… [Source]

• 10 Jun 2024: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Plaid Cymru's Welsh Green New Deal will secure jobs and help tackle climate change. We have a real ambition for our nati… [Source]

• 17 Apr 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  After covid and in the face of a future of global unrest and accelerated climate change, the Chancellor should have prioritised long-term investment in our public services, infrastructure and communities, yet the Budget and its aftermath seem to have produced a consensus between the Tories and Labour on spending cuts, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies calling support for spending cuts a “conspiracy of silence” between the two main parties. The message should come loud and clear: as things stand, Wales gets crumbs from the table, and we can do so much better. Diolch yn fawr.

  Full debate: Spring Budget 2024: Welsh Economy

• 05 Mar 2024: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: By increasing domestic food production, we can achieve greater self-sufficiency as well as resilience to climate change an… [Source]

• 22 Feb 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  We have already had mention of the significance of net zero. We know that, alongside that, the demand for electricity will increase exponentially. We know, too, that energy security not just for the United Kingdom, but for the supplies of electricity that we currently receive from European countries—or the prices that they will be prepared to pay for electricity and energy—will affect what we produce here. Ireland, to the west of the United Kingdom and, very significantly, to the west of Wales, is also going through the same thought processes about its needs for electricity.

  Full debate: Civil Nuclear Road Map

• 23 Jan 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  Plaid Cymru has called for action to ensure that ownership of the Welsh steel industry is returned to Welsh public control. This would involve nationalisation, and then recapitalisation through green bonds, with a view to mutualising and creating a Welsh steel co-operative. We could save the banks in 2008; why can we not save steel now? Look at Germany, where the Government spent €2.6 billion in state aid to steel producers for decarbonisation projects only last year. That is the scale of intervention that we need. We must also learn from countries such as Spain, Canada and Sweden, which are already investing in their capacity to produce primary steel through green hydrogen furnaces. There are lessons here for Wales. There are suggestions that a closed-loop cycle could be created in south Wales, whereby floating offshore wind is not only used for electricity but to make green hydrogen for local heavy industry, including steel production.

  Full debate: Protecting Steel in the UK

• 12 Dec 2023: Tweet

  RT @DelythJewellAM: What a shameful failure. UK Minister leaves COP28 at crisis moment in talks. If he's indeed left to vote on Rwanda bill… [Source]

• 10 Nov 2023: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Wales has enormous renewable energy potential. By investing in the industries of tomorrow, we can create thousands of wel… [Source]

• 27 Sep 2023: Tweet

  In a climate crisis with extreme weather events, greenlighting the #Rosebank oil field is criminal This will not mean cheaper bills - most of the oil will be exported through the open market UK Government simply doesn't care about future generations https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66933832 [Source]

• 21 Sep 2023: Tweet

  RT @StephenFlynnSNP: Net Zero is jobs. It’s economic growth. It’s opportunity. It’s climate. It’s cheaper bills. It’s not a choice, it’s a… [Source]

• 20 Sep 2023: Tweet

  “No one can watch the floods in Libya or the heat in Europe and deny the existence of climate change," says a desperate PM in the same breath as announcing a bonfire of green policies to appease a tiny faction of climate change deniers within the Tory party Sunak is in denial [Source]

• 20 Sep 2023: Tweet

  “No one can watch the floods in Libya or the heat in Europe and deny the existence of climate change," says a desperate PM in an attempt to appease a tiny faction of climate change deniers within the Tory party, sacrificing future generations in the process Sunak is in denial [Source]

• 20 Sep 2023: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Delaying our net zero targets would be a betrayal of our future generations by Westminster Taking action for a sustainabl… [Source]

• 20 Sep 2023: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Delaying our net zero targets would be a betrayal of our future generations by Westminster Taking action for a sustainabl… [Source]

• 20 Sep 2023: Tweet

  Rhaid blaenoriaethu mesurau i reoli newid hinsawdd Stark evidence - tackling climate change must be the priority https://twitter.com/rarohde/status/1691022368724967425 [Source]

• 19 Sep 2023: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: The Tories have had more than 13 years to put in place a proper industrial strategy that maximises Wales’ green energy pot… [Source]

• 15 Sep 2023: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: 3,000 jobs could be lost at Tata Steel. This would be devastating to Port Talbot and Wales' economy. We must decarbonis… [Source]

• 15 Sep 2023: Tweet

  RT @RhunapIorwerth: Diolch Luke. @Plaid_Cymru stands with the workforce - we need certainty about a deal to decarbonise that protects job… [Source]

• 09 Sep 2023: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Wales could be a green energy superpower, but Westminster is holding us back The UK Government's lack of support for offs… [Source]

• 01 Sep 2023: Tweet

  RT @RhunapIorwerth: Devolution of powers over the management of the Crown Estate would help our efforts to reach net zero, and reinvesting… [Source]

• 25 Aug 2023: Tweet

  RT @RhunapIorwerth: The energy cap has fallen slightly, but bills remain extortionate. Wales is rich in green energy sources: it is a sca… [Source]

• 25 Aug 2023: Tweet

  RT @IrishTimes: David McWilliams: With climate change, slowly but surely, the nuclear option is back on the table. There's a growing realis… [Source]

• 19 Aug 2023: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Our vision is for Wales to produce its own renewable energy to: ???? Strengthen the economy ???? Create jobs ???? Tackle the clima… [Source]

• 01 Aug 2023: Tweet

  This isn’t about technology transition or any rational energy policy, it’s about appeasing the climate change deniers who Sunak believes will deliver him the next election https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/31/dismay-as-rishi-sunak-vows-to-max-out-uk-fossil-fuel-reserves?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other [Source]

• 19 Jun 2023: Tweet

  Keir Starmer is today claiming he’s leading the way on green energy What he won’t say is that he’s just ditched his £28bn green jobs pledge ‘Stalling our green transition due to short term political strategies is dangerously irresponsible’ - @BenMLake https://nation.cymru/news/plaid-cymru-urges-uk-labour-to-honour-28-billion-green-investment-pledge/ [Source]

• 26 May 2023: Tweet

  The devolution of the Crown Estate in Scotland has provided a coherent supply chain development for renewable energy 75% of the Welsh public want the same - it's time for Westminster to listen Diolch @AlanBrownSNP ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? https://x.com/AlanBrownSNP/status/1661754861011243008/video/1 [Source]

• 10 May 2023: Parliamentary Speech

  “Improving transport infrastructure within Wales must be a priority and should focus on how infrastructure initiatives can remedy deprivation, boost the Welsh economy and contribute to meeting decarbonisation targets.”

  I urge the UK Government—again—to redesignate English rail projects such as HS2 as benefiting England only, so that Wales would receive the Barnett consequential funding we have every reason to expect. This is a matter of justice and fairness, not charity. Wales is entitled to receive the same funding for railways as elsewhere in the UK, but it is not. In the longer term, we want to tackle the climate crisis, improve productivity and enhance the wellbeing of people in Wales. Devolution with respect to rail infrastructure to achieve that is essential. Diolch yn fawr.

  Full debate: Rail Infrastructure: Wales

• 26 Apr 2023: Tweet

  RT @HywelPlaidCymru: The climate crisis is a health crisis NHS staff saw first hand the effects of last year’s 40.3°C heatwave They’re sc… [Source]

• 30 Mar 2023: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Westminster has overseen a wasted decade for tackling the climate crisis A wasted decade for wages A wasted decade for W… [Source]

• 29 Mar 2023: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: In Scotland, the Crown Estate is devolved so that profits from renewable energy stay in Scotland If it’s good enough for… [Source]

• 20 Mar 2023: Parliamentary Speech

  Despite the many such examples of research excellence, the Budget failed to address the looming cliff edge that Welsh universities face. In April, 60 research projects and 1,000 skilled jobs across Wales will be put at risk when EU structural funding comes to an end. Once they are lost, there is a real risk that most of those research projects will not return and progress towards both net zero and skills targets will be hindered. Welsh universities desperately need £71 million in bridge funding to enable those projects to continue for 12 months and to provide time to develop a more strategic approach to future funding. Ensuring that the UK Government do not overlook research excellence in Wales when initiating new contracts or national facilities will be critical to enabling Wales to continue to deliver the impacts of world-class research and to support the industries of the future.

  One of those industries, of course, is renewable energy, which has the potential to create well-paid jobs, reduce our dependence on hydrocarbons and guarantee energy security. With significant generation opportunities along the Welsh coastline in both marine renewables and offshore wind, Wales has real potential to become a world leader in the manufacture of components and in exporting skills and expertise to a growing global market.

  There have been many fine words about the need for nuclear to play its part in the energy mix, but since I became a Member of Parliament in 2015 we have been going round in circles discussing the need to move ahead. We have sites identified; Trawsfynydd is the most advanced in terms of decommissioning and is a publicly owned site. With Cwmni Egino as a lead method of bringing forward development, will the Minister consider it—certainly for Traws and possibly also for Wylfa—as being ahead of the game in comparison with Great British Nuclear and a perfect model for innovation? Bringing forward this activity is so critical to the economic development of north-west Wales. I am sure that the Minister will mention GBN in her wind-up, so will she acknowledge that Cwmni Egino and Trawsfynydd are key to successful strategic planning towards net zero?

  Full debate: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

• 22 Feb 2023: Parliamentary Speech

  Let me start by congratulating the Minister on her recent appointment as Minister for Science, Research and Innovation in the new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and thanking her sincerely for her engagement prior to the debate.

  Full debate: National Medical Isotope Centre: North Wales

• 08 Feb 2023: Tweet

  RT @UnlockDemocracy: Unanimity on this panel that #ProportionalRepresentation would greatly assist the battle against #ClimateChange We a… [Source]

• 06 Jan 2023: Tweet

  RT @adrataicyf: It was wonderful to welcome Politicians to Tŷ Gwyrddai, Wales's first decarbonisation Hub this week.♻️ Read more about the… [Source]

• 7 Dec 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  On CfDs, I ask for clarity on whether—as with the fourth allocation round—tidal stream energy will continue to have ring-fenced funding into the fifth round. Having funding set aside specifically to support tidal stream is key to getting projects in the water and bringing costs down over time. There are pre-consented demonstration zones in Wales, such as Morlais in Ynys Môn, that are dependent on securing funding through the scheme to deploy. Finally, will the Minister clarify whether any consideration is being given to adjusting the CfD scheme so that it can support renewable energy hubs that contain multiple technologies by assessing together projects that are linked? Again, that would be very significant for many parts of Wales.

  Of course, for Wales to realise our marine renewables potential, our grid infrastructure desperately needs to be brought into the 21st century. A recent report of the Welsh Affairs Committee on grid capacity in Wales warned that our renewable energy potential is threatened by UK Government inaction on improving grid connectivity. The inadequacy of the grid in Wales is a barrier to the decarbonisation of heat and transport across Wales, let alone to the future potential that we should be realising. It is well known that Wales exports more energy than it actually uses. I am very comfortable with that—I think Wales should be exporting into England and, in future, into Ireland—but we need to have the means to do that, and the grid structure does not permit that. It is not sufficient for our needs, let alone for the future.

  Full debate: Marine Renewables: Government Support

• 10 Nov 2022: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: At #COP27, Rishi Sunak boasted about the UK’s investment in renewables But Westminster’s underfunding of the grid is hold… [Source]

• 10 Nov 2022: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Yn #COP27, broliodd Rishi Sunak am fuddsoddiad y DU mewn ynni adnewyddadwy Ond mae tangyllido’r grid gan San Steffan yn d… [Source]

• 07 Nov 2022: Tweet

  For nations like Vanuatu and Pakistan, climate change is an imminent existential crisis We need global solutions to global problems, but rich countries continue to fail to show leadership Finance for #LossAndDamage must be Rishi Sunak’s priority at #COP27 [Source]

• 30 Oct 2022: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Rishi Sunak won’t attend #COP27 due to prioritising ‘depressing economic challenges’ at home Inaction means that not only… [Source]

• 19 Oct 2022: Vote

  Ban on Fracking for Shale Gas Bill - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 17 Oct 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  If the Chancellor wants to reduce the cost of the energy support package, the answer is not to break promises made to millions of households, but—and on this surely we can all agree—to focus on reducing energy demand. The inefficiency of our housing stock means that households are wasting hundreds of pounds a year on energy that immediately escapes through draughty walls, windows and ceilings. New clause 6 would require the UK Government to work with the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to assess the benefits of a housing decarbonisation scheme in terms of the impact it would have on energy bills, the number of households living in fuel poverty and climate targets.

  Full debate: Energy Prices Bill

• 22 Sep 2022: Tweet

  RT @EnergyLiveNews: Government urged to introduce “street-by-street” insulation measures. @LSRPlaid #energy #energycrisis #climatechange… [Source]

• 06 Sep 2022: Tweet

  RT @CarolineLucas: The #ClimateEmergency is right here right now, yet Financial Services Bill being debated today does nothing to address i… [Source]

• 16 Aug 2022: Tweet

  RT @Plaid_Cymru: Wales is rich in renewable energy and natural resources. Wales should decide how we use them. Devolution of the Crown Es… [Source]

• 7 Jul 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  I am lucky to have seven heritage railways in Dwyfor Meirionnydd, and steam engines were designed to be run on coal. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they face a crisis in the supply of suitable coal. The sector is working to develop alternatives to coal, as required by the net zero agenda, but it needs help. Will the Minister commit to supporting heritage steam to ensure the survival of our industrial heritage?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 28 Jun 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  Honesty is not only the best policy, but is essential to the creation of policy. It is an honour to attend Parliament and engage in discussions and decisions that affect all our countries, to decide on policies that avert the climate breakdown and to legislate against hunger, homelessness and want, but we cannot do that from a position of bad faith, distrust or uncertainty. We cannot make good policies off the back of lies and misinformation, and we cannot expect the public to mobilise in support of the kind of transformative change needed to build a sustainable and just future if they cannot trust those who would lead them to do so.

  Full debate: Elected Representatives (Prohibition of Deception)

• 18 May 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  Net zero is obviously in the Queen’s Speech but, alas, missed opportunities include the devolution of the Crown Estate and the establishment of a Welsh national energy company to support local renewable generation and fix grid capacity—measures, by the way, that Plaid Cymru has agreed with Labour in Wales through our co-operation agreement. It is good to see politicians working together in the common interest of all the people in all our communities, rather than in conflict. I ask the Government to address the shortage of grid capacity somehow, because without further grid capacity in many areas of Wales we cannot grow our own renewable supplies and make the best of that opportunity.

  Full debate: Achieving Economic Growth

• 16 Mar 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  With the number of displaced people set to increase due to climate change, we need a modern, compassionate system that is fit for purpose not just for this present awful emergency but for the future. The creation of bespoke schemes is the wrong approach, as it creates arbitrary distinctions between those people who are deserving of our help and those people who are, in effect, undeserving of it. That is exactly why we have the refugee convention, which does away with such distinctions. This Government are hellbent on ripping up that convention through the Nationality and Borders Bill, which the UN has described as not respecting obligations under international human rights and refugee law. The convention acknowledges the reality that people who have fled dangerous situations cannot be expected to wait for help. We must reimagine our whole approach, create a new, compassionate refugee and asylum system, and support all those who need our help—people from Ukraine and from the rest of the world, be that Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, or wherever they may be in future.

  Full debate: Refugees from Ukraine

• 5 Jan 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  I have heard the Secretary of State mention the offshore wind potential of the Celtic sea. He will know that, as part of Plaid Cymru’s co-operation agreement with the Welsh Government, both parties agree that further powers are needed to support our path to net zero—specifically on the management of the Crown Estate and its assets in Wales. Two months ago, the Under-Secretary of State for Wales, the hon. Member for Monmouth (David T. C. Davies), said that he would look with interest at my Crown Estate (Devolution to Wales) Bill. Given that there is now a clear majority in the Senedd to support the principle of Wales having the same powers, remember, as there are regarding the Crown Estate of Scotland, will the Minister also support my Bill to ensure that the profits of offshore wind go to the people of Wales?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 13 Dec 2021: Vote

  Subsidy Control Bill — Schedule 1 - The subsidy control principles - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 30 Nov 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  We want to work with other parties to achieve social, economic and environmental progress, and this agreement does that. It also brings about the stability, consensus and ideas needed in our political system to ensure that we rebuild from the pandemic and act swiftly to achieve net zero. I look forward to hearing support from the Labour Benches here and the parliamentary Labour party for the only place in which Labour holds Government in the United Kingdom.

  Full debate: Conduct of the Right Hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip

• 22 Nov 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  Wales’s dangerous coal tips loom over our industrial communities like spectres from our industrial past and remind us of how our natural resources were exploited, mostly for the benefit of others. Climate change is set to compound the risk posed by coal tips, and we expect rainfall to increase by around 6% over the next 30 years. This month, the COP26 President said it was vital

  climate change. How is the Minister’s refusal to settle the £600 million bill consistent with that statement?

  Full debate: Wales

• 17 Nov 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  Wales’s dangerous coal tips loom over our industrial communities like spectres from our industrial past and remind us of how our natural resources were exploited, mostly for the benefit of others. Climate change is set to compound the risk posed by coal tips, and we expect rainfall to increase by around 6% over the next 30 years. This month, the COP26 President said it was vital

  climate change. How is the Minister’s refusal to settle the £600 million bill consistent with that statement?

  Full debate: Coal Tips: Safety

• 20 Oct 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  If COP26 is to be successful, people must be at the heart of our net zero emissions strategy. For too long, the UK economy has left too many people behind, with wealth and investment hoarded in the south-east of England. Devolving powers over the Crown Estate would bring half a billion pounds-worth of offshore wind and tidal stream potential—assets, of course, currently controlled by Westminster—under Welsh control. Scotland, meanwhile, already has those powers. Will the Prime Minister support my Bill to devolve the management of the Crown Estate to Wales?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 16 Sep 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  It is clear from his words that the devolved Governments have never been far from the thinking behind our collective UK approach to the COP26 summit and the pivotal role of devolved Governments in its potential success. The hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Craig Williams) —for Sir Drefaldwyn—made a very valid point earlier, even though he made it politically: climate change extends beyond the nation state. It also starts with what we do as individuals, and of course the role of the devolved Governments is absolutely critical within that.

  The Governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have long been leading lights in the UK’s climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. In Wales, our deep-seated commitment to sustainable development is enshrined in our founding constitution, I am proud to say; we have declared a climate emergency and legislated to ensure that decision making meets our global climate and justice responsibilities. In Scotland, our political cousins in the SNP, the gracious hosts of the summit, continue to implement the green transition both at home and abroad, in the latter case with a ground-breaking climate justice fund that brings much needed assistance to the global south. The same cannot be said in every case about this Government or their handling of the summit.

  I recognise the work of the COP26 devolved Administrations ministerial group. I hope that today the Minister will greatly expand on the succinct communiqués—I think that is probably the best way to describe them—issued by the group to demonstrate this Government’s engagement with the devolved nations. But, as many have said already and will continue to say, actions speak louder than worders.

  From support for fossil-fuel projects both at home and abroad to cuts to the overseas aid budget, inexplicable delays in key Treasury reports and the frankly shameful removal of climate commitments in trade deals, this Government have shambolically handled the dual opportunity presented as they are co-host to COP26 and the G7 president. In doing so, this Government have shown their conflict of priorities or disorganisation —we can describe it in different ways and I am sure it would be described differently on each side of the Chamber. For many people outside, and for many of our neighbours and the coalitions around the world, there will be a commentary on an obsession with display over substance, which has never been so dangerous as it is now, in that it threatens the global climate progress.

  Just this week, the Scottish Government have had to step in to fund the UN conference of youth, which runs alongside COP26, after the UK Government refused. I thank the Scottish Government for remembering the fantastic efforts of the world’s youth through the Fridays for Future movement and acknowledging the need for youth engagement in climate policy, given that, in 2019, 1.2 billion people—or 16% of the global population—were aged between 15 and 24 years old. Where Westminster falters, the devolved nations lead—a truth that I hope the world will see at COP26, when it will see the reality of the relationships of the nations of the UK. When we talk about global Britain, let us remember that other structures are in play and that we need to use them to best effect.

  Full debate: COP26: Devolved Administrations

• 7 Sep 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  Diolch yn fawr, Llefarydd. It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). First, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Arfon (Hywel Williams) for securing this debate, and for his welcome remarks on the need to move to an inclusive global human rights-orientated foreign policy approach. He rightly draws attention to this Government’s failure to take full advantage of the UK’s roles, both as co-hosts of COP26 and as current president of the G7, to secure definitive climate action ahead of November.

  However, I would like my remarks today to focus on the broader issue of migration and displacement that is attributable to climate change, as referred to by my hon. Friend. That is, of course, an issue that is real and pressing, both here in the UK and abroad. The UN Refugee Agency believes that already, due to increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, more than 20 million people, on average, are being internally displaced annually. Despite such suffering, appropriate descriptions, such as the term “climate refugee” are yet to receive a solid legal basis that would, following accordingly, give them international protection and rights. I therefore invite and would welcome a comment from the Minister today on the Government’s approach to the rights of people displaced by climate change, and on how the Government will be raising this point at the upcoming COP26 summit.

  Displacement due to climate change is also happening here, in the UK. In my constituency lies Fairbourne, and the UK’s first community facing decommissioning. These are people who do not know where their homes will be, and what the value of their community is, per se. Will they be kept together? How will the infrastructure be dealt with, and what remains of that community? What are the rights of these people? All of the legislation that we have in place overrides their rights. Until we know what their rights are here, it is difficult for us to talk about those abroad. They have been left in limbo, by both the UK and the Welsh Government, and by our wider modern economy and social safety net. Their plight demonstrates that if we, even as one of the world’s wealthiest nations, cannot properly respect and look after our own, we cannot expect developing nations, who will be more affected by climate change than the UK, to do so?

  Full debate: Global Britain: Human Rights and Climate Change

• 13 Jul 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  One solution would be devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales, as has happened in Scotland. That action would further holistic fisheries management in Wales and support not only our decarbonisation efforts, but the viability of our fishing industry. While I welcome the co-operation between the UK and devolved Governments on joint policy statements, it is essential that such co-operation is grounded in dialogue.

  Full debate: Fisheries Management

• 22 Jun 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  Our communities are facing a series of interlinked crises and interwoven threads of inequalities. There is an environmental and climate change crisis, there is a public health crisis and there is an economic crisis. More than a decade of Tory austerity casts a shadow over our communities’ capacity to respond and to develop resilience. Communities such as mine in Dwyfor Meirionnydd suffer from youth depopulation, while the young people who wish to stay can no longer afford to get on the housing ladder. Wages are among the lowest in the UK. Meanwhile, former family homes become luxury second properties or investment holiday rentals in a febrile market.

  Fundamentally, however, we need to improve the resilience of the Welsh rural economy itself. Last week’s headlines alone were an unwelcome reminder of the urgency of doing so, as they announced a bad trade deal with Australia. This could well establish a disastrous precedent for Welsh agriculture, as well as increase the growing risks posed by climate change, as described by the Climate Change Committee.

  Equally, our net zero pledges require urgent action to decarbonise our rural economy and build upon its key strengths. Wales is an energy-rich nation, yet we lack not only the borrowing powers to finance nationwide developments, but a modern energy transmission grid that would allow local renewable energy developments to feed electricity into it. That hampers the ability of actors ranging from farmers to local authorities to decarbonise and make the best use of Wales’s natural resources for our common good. Those are just two issues, but I hope that today’s debate will further this much-needed discussion on improving the rural economy’s resilience.

  The Welsh rural economy has a pivotal role to play not only in ensuring Wales’s post-pandemic recovery, but in ensuring that we meet our net zero obligations as sustainably and rapidly as possible. The Welsh rural economy is a vital component not only of the wider Welsh economy, but of Wales as a nation. It is the heartland of the Welsh language; the origin of some of our finest food and drink; the guardian of the sustainable use of our environment; and, of course, the destination for tourists worldwide.

  Plaid Cymru is calling for the UK Government to work with, rather than against, the devolved Governments, by involving and engaging with them, whether on regional and rural development funds or in trade negotiations. We urge both the UK and Welsh Governments to support Plaid Cymru’s proposals to address the second home crisis and, in order to meet our net zero objectives, to give us the borrowing and regulatory powers needed to develop Welsh renewable energy projects and connect them to a newly upgraded electricity transmission network.

  Full debate: Welsh Rural Economy

• 07 Jun 2021: Vote

  Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill — New Clause 1 - Human Rights Abuses - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 11 May 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  In that spirit, I hope the Government will recognise the need to correct the stymieing inconsistencies in the devolution settlement and devolve the Crown Estate in Wales to Wales—as has occurred, of course, in Scotland. Control over our natural resources and their rent is essential not only for their sustainable management, but to help generate the capital investment necessary to deliver our net zero future. The change would improve upon the current restrictive borrowing limits imposed by the Treasury on the Welsh Government and better connect Wales’s natural heritage and resources with their sustainable use and production.

  Full debate: Debate on the Address

• 24 Feb 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  I, too, welcome the right hon. Gentleman to his position as President of COP26.

  With Wales possessing the oldest housing stock in the UK, what lessons has the right hon. Gentleman learned from Welsh retrofitting schemes about the challenge of reducing residential emissions globally ahead of COP26?

  Full debate: Topical Questions

• 9 Feb 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  Climate change and ecosystem degradation are already a pressing reality in Wales, from changing weather patterns to biodiversity loss, with a 2019 report concluding that 666 species are threatened with extinction and 73 have been lost already. It is clear that to address this issue effectively and quickly, we need to mobilise unprecedented levels of innovation and investment across our economy and society.

  I welcome this debate, and I hope that the UK Government will consider how best to support this transition across all four nations of the UK, particularly in the upcoming Budget. No nation in the world can manage climate change alone, but neither can centralised command and control alone bring about the change we need.

  Full debate: Climate and Ecological Emergency: UK’s Response

• 13 Jan 2021: Vote

  Financial Services Bill — Schedule 2 - Prudential regulation of FCA investment firms - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 08 Dec 2020: Vote

  Delegated Legislation — Financial Assistance to Industry - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: No

• 16 Nov 2020: Vote

  Pension Schemes Bill [Lords] — Clause 124 - Climate change risk - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 29 Sep 2020: Vote

  United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — New Clause 6 - Economic development: climate and nature emergency impact statement - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 1 Sep 2020: Parliamentary Speech

  Finally, the Bill fails to account for the increasing variability of catches and, therefore, of income of fishing communities due to the migration of fish caused by factors including climate change. We run a risk of setting targets for ourselves if those targets will need to change to reflect difference in behaviours resulting from climate change in the future. Underpinning these flaws is this Government’s inability to resolve the UK’s constitutional question, which makes this place both the Parliament of England and of the UK. That has very real consequences for Welsh fishing, as this Bill would enshrine regulatory conflicts of interest in this place, against which Wales would have scant resources to defend the livelihoods of fishermen the length and breadth of the Welsh coast. That is why, although we support efforts to replace the CFP and of course welcome the further empowerment of the Welsh Government, we will be voting against the Bill, to encourage the Government to return with a better, more honest, more co-operative and more equitable framework for the future of Welsh fishing.

  Full debate: Fisheries Bill [Lords]

• 7 Jul 2020: Parliamentary Speech

  With our vast mountains and hills and our 870 miles of coastline path, Wales is ideally placed for socially distant tourism, but attracting tourists at any cost should not be our priority. Post covid, sustainable tourism can be a vehicle for supporting our cultural heritage as well as combating the multiple crises of our age: the climate emergency, loss of biodiversity, pollution, and social and economic inequalities. Out of this crisis, we have an opportunity to assess our tourism industry and its role within our economy, and I urge the Government to grasp this opportunity to create a future-proof model of tourism with sustainability at its heart.

  Full debate: Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Departmental Spending

• 05 Feb 2020: Vote

  Transport - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 26 Jun 2019: Parliamentary Speech

  On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On Monday, we passed legislation to set net zero by 2050 as our decarbonisation target. It is a hugely important thing to have done and our constituents are very interested in the matter. Mr Speaker, you have done great things to make the proceedings of the House more intelligible to the public beyond, and websites such as TheyWorkForYou have done likewise, yet because there was no Division on Monday, the unanimous support for that legislation will go unrecorded by TheyWorkForYou. At a time when the public think that our politics is hopelessly divided, do you agree that at moments when the House is unanimous in its support for such legislation, TheyWorkForYou should record that, not just the occasions on which we disagree?

  Full debate: Points of Order

• 1 May 2019: Parliamentary Speech

  Hon. Members can see the political incentive to keep quiet. The easiest thing to do would be to keep my head down, save for the fact that that is the crux of the problem with our short-termism, our self-interest politics. Fairbourne is what a climate change emergency looks like. It is slow, but it is happening, and we have little response to it.

  Full debate: Environment and Climate Change

• 6 Dec 2016: Parliamentary Speech

  I turn briefly to the role of tidal lagoons in meeting environmental targets, which is the second aspect of the energy trilemma. Whatever the impact of Brexit on the UK’s energy and environmental policy, under the Climate Change Act 2008, we are committed to reducing carbon emissions by 57% by 2030, on 1990 levels. As recognised by the Committee on Climate Change, it is likely that new technologies, including tidal lagoons, need to be implemented to meet that target.

  The third aspect of the trilemma is often referred to as energy equity—that is, the affordability of energy for consumers—but I shall also touch on the broader economic implications of tidal lagoons. As the first of its kind, Swansea bay tidal lagoon is undoubtedly more expensive than some of the rival technologies. However, as the project is small, its impact on household electricity bills will be small as well. For consumers, Swansea bay’s real benefits lie in its ability to act as a catalyst for an industry of cost-effective renewable energy in the form of future tidal lagoons.

  Full debate: Tidal Lagoons and UK Energy Strategy

• 12 Sep 2016: Parliamentary Speech

  I now turn to amendments tabled by the Government and Opposition Front Benchers. The Government’s new clause 5 is based on the premise of giving Welsh Ministers power to demarcate safety zones around renewable energy installations in Welsh waters and prohibit activities within such safety zones. That does indeed seem empowering. Unfortunately, however, it further highlights the senseless limit of 350 MW capacity on renewable energy projects, to which we are fundamentally opposed. Amendment 45 and its consequential amendment 47 remind us again of this limit. We welcome new clause 1, tabled by the official Opposition, which would amend the Coastguard Act 1925 and the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 so as to require the Secretary of State to consult Welsh Ministers in relation to the activities of the coastguard in Wales.

  Full debate: Wales Bill

• 06 Sep 2016: Vote

  Finance Bill — VAT on Installation of Energy Saving Materials - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 09 May 2016: Vote

  Housing and Planning Bill — Planning obligations and affordable housing - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: No

• 14 Mar 2016: Vote

  Energy Bill [Lords] — New Clause 8 — Decarbonisation target range - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 14 Mar 2016: Vote

  Energy Bill [Lords] — New Clause 3 — Carbon capture and storage strategy for the energy industry - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 25 Nov 2015: Parliamentary Speech

  Renewable energy has established itself as a significant contributor to the UK’s energy mix with considerable potential for further expansion. There is incontrovertible evidence that renewables are bringing down the wholesale costs of electricity, which is particularly significant for rural regions. An YnNi Llyn report revealed that in three rural wards in Pen Llyn, 43% of households were in fuel poverty and a further 33% were at risk; as an interesting aside, 69% of them were in transport poverty. There is a high level of dependency on unsustainable fuels, so it is deeply regrettable that the UK Government are effectively halting the previous progress on the deployment of low carbon energy and reverting to a policy of promoting fossil fuel generation.

  It seems as though the UK Government are alone and swimming against the tide of worldwide scientific and political consensus that climate change is one of the most threatening prospects for mankind. The Government are also negligent in respect of the economic value of renewables, particularly in Wales. As a Plaid Cymru MP, I have always campaigned, and will continue to campaign, for responsibility over Welsh energy to be fully transferred to the Welsh Government. For as long as the UK Government refuse to do so, they should at least do what is in the interests of Wales on the Welsh Government’s behalf.

  Constituencies across Wales, including mine, are already witnessing the damaging economic and social effects of the reversal of policy support for renewable energy. Community energy schemes are no longer emerging, and supply chain businesses in the sector—often very important to the local economy—are already contracting and struggling to survive.

  The renewable energy business, Dulas, employs many people living in my constituency. It has seen an 80% drop in demand for its planning and environmental impact assessment services, owing to onshore wind and solar park sites being pulled. And for what reason? An audit of the Government’s policies on solar, the green deal and zero-carbon homes and offices shows that they will all lead not only to an increase in CO 2 emissions, but to higher bills, according to a BBC report. Would the Minister honestly be able to look my constituents in the eye and tell them that the UK Government have the social, economic and environmental concerns of Wales uppermost in their mind?

  In conclusion, I ask the Minister to give her assurance that the UK Government will ensure that up-to-date information is provided in the form of a comparison between the renewable energy roadmap, Government forecasts and the 2009 EU renewables directive. It is essential that Members and constituents are fully informed on whether the UK is likely to achieve its targets.

  Full debate: Clean Energy Investment

• 19 Nov 2015: Parliamentary Speech

  Does the Secretary of State agree that subsidising progressively unaffordable fossil fuels, many of which are produced abroad, while cutting off support for renewable energy at home when schemes are on the verge of being self-supporting, mitigates our chances of reaching our targets?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 26 Oct 2015: Vote

  Finance Bill (Ways and Means) (Payment of Corporation Tax) — Chapter 5 — Supplementary provisions - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 08 Sep 2015: Vote

  Bill Presented — Devolution (London) Bill — Clause 45 — CCL: removal of exemption for electricity from renewable sources - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: No

• 14 Jul 2015: Vote

  21. Climate Change Levy: Removal of Exemption for Electricity from Renewable Sources - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: No

• 22 Jun 2015: Parliamentary Speech

  The region has been the home of major developments in energy production. Maentwrog and Ffestiniog power stations were the first of their kind in capacity and innovation. Trawsfynydd nuclear power station ceased production in 1991. The Snowdonia enterprise zone seeks to create employment to replace jobs as decommissioning winds down in the next few years. Recently, Llanbedr airfield was placed on a shortlist of six possible sites to be the home of Britain’s first domestic space hub. Landowners are alert to the income potential of renewable energy schemes, regardless of what we heard this morning, although the National Grid needs to be improved to permit additional generation. The same can be said of high-speed broadband, which is yet to reach a number of rural communities and farms.

  Full debate: Education and Adoption Bill