Policy Asks 2016

Friends of the Earth Cymru 2016 Election Policy Asks

A Wales fit for Future Generations

With the introduction of the Well-being of Future Generations Act by this Assembly, the next Welsh Government and Assembly term will have a new duty to improve Wales for our social, economic, cultural and environmental well-being. Wales has made its commitment to becoming a sustainable nation, and the 2016 Assembly elections and next government are key to shaping our future and showing clearly how we will do things differently in Wales.

The next Programme for Government will introduce our national “well-being objectives” under this Act and we expect all proposals and policies by parties to be assessed against the principles of sustainable development and the well-being goals, as well as having a proven positive contribution towards the national indicators currently under consultation.

As an environmental justice organisation we believe that the well-being of people and planet go hand in hand, and work with others to inspire the local and national action needed to protect the environment for current and future generations.

In this document we set out our asks for the next government of Wales and the National Assembly. In forming these asks we have held consultation events with our local groups network. They have also been informed by the latest science and policy from our international Friends of the Earth network. Later in the year we will be announcing our top 5 policy priorities following online polling and consultation.

Key areas

1. Energy for all
2. Climate change
3. Sustainable communities for people and planet
4. Resources and environmental limits
5. Nature for everyone
6. A globally responsible Wales

1. Energy for all

The world has more fossil fuel than we can afford to burn if we want to avoid catastrophic climate change. We need to accelerate the move away from burning coal, gas and oil towards clean renewable energy production. And we’re fortunate in Wales to have abundant wind, solar, tidal, wave and hydro resources. Much of this lends itself to small-scale community energy and local ownership. But of course the first step is to reduce our energy usage through improving energy efficiency, particularly in our homes, making warm homes affordable and tackling fuel poverty.

We are calling for commitments under the following headings:

Ynni Ni - Our Energy

Wales needs an energy transition – a move away from fossil fuels to renewables. And community renewables provide the best of all worlds – more local ownership, better jobs, security of supply and concrete action to tackle climate changing emissions from electricity generation.

• A target for reducing energy consumption in Wales.
• Priority and affordable access to the electricity grid for community renewable schemes.
• A change in energy market rules to permit and prioritise local energy supply so that people can buy electricity generated by community renewable energy groups without the unfair costs imposed by current regulations.
• Support for community energy projects through a transformed Ynni’r Fro programme, and a fair share of funding from UK programmes.
• A presumption in favour of community renewable energy projects under the planning system.
• An ambitious programme of solar panels or other suitable renewable energy systems on all suitable schools and public buildings.

Energy efficiency as National infrastructure priority

A major energy efficiency programme is the only infrastructure project which could create jobs in every town and village in Wales. It’s also the only way to end the scandal of fuel poverty, would cut carbon in housing and create local jobs in the most deprived communities.

• Energy efficiency should be the top infrastructure priority, with a home energy efficiency programme to carry out whole-house retrofits to 150,000 low-income homes by 2020 and planning to scale this up to 400,000 by 2025. This could be paid for using capital investment funding streams (including the Green Investment Bank) and borrowing powers.
• A minimum energy efficiency level of EPC C in the private rented sector should be implemented by 2020 - building on the landlord licencing and registration system introduced by the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.
• New houses must meet energy efficiency standards by reviewing Part L regulations to bring in zero-carbon housing from 2017.

We also fully support the key asks of the Fuel Poverty Coalition in Wales manifesto.

Fossil free Wales

• Commit to ban fracking and all unconventional oil and gas exploitation in Wales.
• No more opencast coal mining in Wales, implementing maximum restrictions on current operations to protect communities and no extension to current schemes.
• Divestment and responsible financing – the Welsh Government and National Assembly to divest from the fossil fuel holdings in pension schemes and any other financial investments, and to encourage local authorities and other public bodies in Wales to do so as part of their contribution to the goal of being a globally responsible Wales in the Well-being of Future Generations Act.
• No extensions or derogations for Wales’ one remaining coal fired power station (Aberthaw) and closure confirmed for no later than 2020 with transitional employment schemes in place for affected communities.

The future not the past

• Scaling up of tried and tested renewables, and introducing renewable targets for local authorities.
• Commit to doubling the 2010 electricity consumption coming from renewables by 2025 and 100% renewable electricity in Wales by 2030.
• Support innovation in renewable technology to make Wales a world-leader in the field. Support new technologies with the potential of developing in Wales, including energy storage.
• Investigate an alternative system of support for renewable energy in the light of uncertainty around current UK schemes to ensure a stable financial framework.
• No new nuclear (including Wylfa Newydd) or nuclear waste. There should be no nuclear build in Wales or large-scale nuclear waste facilities – this is a dangerous and costly distraction from a path towards renewables and more effective low carbon solutions. It should be opposed by the next Welsh Government.
• All powers over energy, the grid and energy company regulation should be devolved to Wales in order to be able to plan a clear pathway to clean energy and meet our emission reduction targets.

2. Climate change

Since the last Assembly election the science of climate change has grown ever stronger. The latest IPCC report revealed accelerating sea level rise, sea ice retreat and glacier melt, and gave us a clearer picture of the impact this is having on the world’s most vulnerable communities and the increasing impact on people and nature all over the world.

We are calling for a fair global deal on climate change through the UNFCC in Paris in December and its implementation in Wales through:

• A 2050 emission reduction target in line with the latest science and global responsibilities – we believe a 95% reduction is necessary.
• Commitment to retain and introduce proposals to reach the agreed policy target of 40% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
• Wales’ carbon budgets (as proposed in the Environment (Wales) Bill) to be based on the principles of global equity and fairness, with a low risk of exceeding 2 degrees warming and a steep trajectory towards a 2050 target so that we take early action to decarbonise which is more cost effective and reduces overall emissions.
• A carbon assessment of each fiscal budget, major strategies and infrastructure projects.
• Annual reporting and Assembly scrutiny on progress towards cutting emissions.

3. Sustainable Communities for people and the planet

Our communities need to be living and working spaces that work both for people and the planet. We should be designing our communities to enable people to live low carbon lifestyles, and empowering them to be part of decision-making.

We are calling for:

• Enabling public participation, the right for communities to be heard in planning decisions, and introducing a community right of appeal.
• All LDPs to be re-assessed in line with the latest projections of population change to ensure that over-development is avoided.
• The new M4 proposals to be scrapped, with investment being prioritised for active travel and public transport.
• Welsh Government to require all local authorities to assess 30mph zones with a view to re-designating as 20mph zones unless exceptional circumstances apply.
• Increase electric car charging points on public buildings and as part of new major developments and refurbishments.
• Making cycling safer and easier with mandatory cycle proficiency test as part of the driving test and cycle assessments for road projects.
• Electrification of all railway lines in Wales and consideration of re-opening strategic passenger rail lines e.g. Carmarthen to Aberystwyth.
• Improving interchanges and facilitating integration between active travel and public transport and between different methods of public transport.

4. Resources and environmental limits

The things we use and what goes into them are precious and should be treated as such – our global resources are not limitless. We should consider all the finite resources that go into the goods and services we use in Wales, wherever they’re produced.

We support measuring this using the ‘four footprints’ approach – calculating the carbon, materials, water and land that’s used in the production of our goods and services. We recommend that these should be included in the National Indicators for Wales, with a plan to reduce these footprints.

We also propose to:

• Introduce a deposit scheme for drinks containers.
• Introduce an incineration tax, a ban on incineration of all recyclable materials, oppose large scale incineration and public subsidies for incineration - which all work against a zero waste policy.
• Introduce statutory recycling target of 85% by 2030 and a clear plan for zero waste by 2040.
• Consider company responsibility for resources – with retailers responsible for the packaging, waste and food waste they produce.
• Cutting food waste by requiring supermarkets to donate unsold food to charities.

5. Nature for everyone

In our busy lives it’s easy to overlook the importance of nature and how we need it for healthy food, water, materials, learning, health and well-being. Many people also rely on nature for their livelihoods and ways of life.

The Welsh Government’s Action Plan for Pollinators was a direct outcome of Friends of the Earth Cymru’s Bee Cause campaign. The resulting taskforce is a positive example of ways of working between the Welsh Government, individuals and organisations.

We propose that the Welsh Government:

• Introduce a scheme of pollinator-friendly towns, following the success of fair-trade towns, with a set of criteria for communities, towns and local authority areas to meet to qualify as pollinator-friendly areas.
• Devolve powers over pesticide regulation - and legislate to ban those which are known to cause substantial harm or risk to pollinators.
• Ensure that all children have more and better contact with nature as part of their daily lives – in school, at play and in their communities.
• Support and enshrine in Welsh law the EU directives relating to habitats, birds and conservation areas.
• Support for sustainable farming and recognition of the role of farmers as guardians of the countryside and producers of local food.
• Assess the potential for more animal feed used in Wales to be produced locally, to guard against international feed cost increases and avoid importing GM soy.
• Continue to take the most restrictive possible approach to GM crops and ban any further GM crops authorised at an EU level.
• Explore potential for and impact of Welsh waters becoming a zone in which large fishing vessels are banned from operating.

6. A globally responsible Wales

Wales has a valuable contribution to make to the world. This has already been shown with actions such as becoming the first fair-trade nation and supporting a Wales for Africa programme. The “globally responsible Wales” goal in the Well-being of Future Generations Act now enshrines this commitment in our law.

We believe Welsh citizens should be empowered to be global citizens and that the Welsh Government should:

• Support EU membership, because of the benefits for the environment in Wales.
• Oppose the damaging EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
• Support Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship as a means to develop informed, skilled and empowered citizens in Wales. Include climate change and its impacts as a strong element of this Global Education within classrooms, museums, libraries, parks and public venues.
• Continue to play an active role in international fora such as the Networks of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development (NRG4SD) and relevant UN meetings such as the World Summit Climate & Territories.
• Ensure Wales is responsible for its global environmental impacts by including the four footprints of carbon, materials, water and land as National Indicators and developing a plan for reducing our global footprint.
• Allow Welsh citizens and civil society to play a full part in political life by opposing Part 2 of the UK Lobbying Act, which sets unfair restrictions on non-party campaigning, and committing to repeal this section in relation to the National Assembly elections when these powers are devolved.

Ends.