ON World Environment Day the Assembly Member who recently supported the Welsh Labour Government’s decision to declare a climate emergency, believes we all have a part to play.

Eluned Morgan wants residents in Powys to consider five things they can do to make a difference:

1. Walk or ride your bike to work, school and anywhere you can (The Welsh Labour Government has invested significantly in active travel routes and passed the ground-breaking Active Travel Act)

2. Recycle (Wales continues to have the best recycling rates in the UK and the third best in the world)

3. Make your home more energy efficient (Help to make your home more energy efficient can be found here: https://nest.gov.wales/)

4. Refill Nation (The Welsh Government is committed to making Wales the world’s first Refill nation. Read more here https://refill.org.uk/refill-wales/)

5. Drive smarter. Slow down (The First Minister Mark Drakeford has stated that the Welsh Government believe that 20mph should be the default speed limit for residential areas. This will help reduce emissions and encourage active travel)

Eluned Morgan is the species champion for the rare Pine Marten which has recently been reintroduced to Wales.

Speaking after an event in the National Assembly by WWF Cymru and RSPB Cymru which celebrated Welsh nature and tackling the ecological crisis, Eluned Morgan AM said: “The Welsh Government were absolutely right to declare a climate emergency, we have a responsibility to future generations, to act now.”

“The Government must continue to do all it can to reduce carbon emissions and to invest in infrastructure that will deliver this.”

“But, we all have a part to play however and on World Environment Day I thought it would be helpful to talk about a few simple steps we can all take.”

At the end of April the Welsh Labour Government declared a climate emergency. The Welsh Government has committed to achieving a carbon neutral public sector by 2030 and to coordinating action to help other areas of the economy to make a decisive shift away from fossil fuels. Earlier this year it published Prosperity for All: A Low Carbon Wales, which sets out 100 policies and proposals to meet the 2020 carbon emissions targets.

The plan for 2021-26 is already being prepared and will go further and faster. Welsh Government is also currently reviewing farmer support post Brexit with public goods element and updating its Nature Recovery Action Plan to drive urgent action to increase the resilience of our ecosystems in order to reverse the decline in habitats and species.