National Assembly Member Mohammad Asghar has criticised the Welsh Assembly Government’s Climate Change Strategy for falling short of previously outlined One Wales Commitments and for its lack of measurable indicators.
Speaking in Wednesday’s Welsh Conservative debate, the South Wales East AM: “Although the rhetoric in the strategy is positive and espouses a commitment to tackling climate change, the issues are in the detail. It is concerning that the Welsh Assembly Government’s strategy waters down commitments outlined in the One Wales Agreement of 2007.
“The delivery plan that accompanies the strategy says that the measures implemented by the Welsh Assembly Government will contribute 0.89 per cent towards the target of 3 per cent. That is less than a third.
“The bulk of the reductions will be made through UK Government policies and contributions by business, the public sector, local government, communities, individuals, the third sector and so on”.
Mr Asghar also criticised the report for failing to include a series of performance indicators, adding: “Terms such as ‘significant improvement’ lack any detail to allow proper analysis.
“The Minister says that she wants to see ‘more people’ walking and cycling by 2020, but what are the figures? How does such a vague approach fit in with the walking and cycling plan, which sets clear target indicators, but only up until 2013? The document also refers to a desire to see more people using public transport and car sharing, but how many is ‘more’?”
