Plaid Cymru’s Environmental Policies

Plaid Cymru have emerged as the largest party in the Senedd for the first time following an historic election on 7^th May, the first election of the newly-expanded Senedd.

Plaid won 43 seats, six short of a majority. Reform UK finished second on 34 seats and will form the official opposition. Labour, the previous party of government, finished third with nine seats, the Conservatives fourth with seven, followed by the Green Party with two and the Liberal Democrats with one. Plaid Cymru will seek to form a minority government, led by Rhun ap Iorwerth as First Minister. A full list of new MSs can be found here.

This is the first time the Senedd will not be led by a Labour government; indeed, on the day Sir David Attenborough turned 100, Labour failed to gain the most seats at a national election in Wales (Senedd or General Election) for the first time since before Sir David’s birth, having won the most votes in Wales at every national election since 1922.

Environment policies

We provided and overview of each of the main parties’ environmental commitments here. With Plaid Cymru now set to steer policy at the Senedd for the next four years, we take a closer look at their environment policies.

Immediate priorities

Prior to the election, Plaid published a “First 100 Days” document setting out their short-term priorities across all policy areas, should they form the next Welsh Government.

The environmental pledges include action on climate change, renewable energy and the farming system. Plaid will begin work on updating Wales’ Climate and Nature Action Plan as a first step towards their wider goal of achieving Net Zero in Wales by 2040 (a decade sooner than the Westminster Government target) and “substantive” nature recovery by 2050.

Plaid’s manifesto makes much of Wales’ relative abundance of natural resources and its strong position in terms of utilising these for renewable energy, much of which Plaid plan to make community-owned. In their first 100 days, Plaid will prepare a new National Energy Strategy, including measures to promote community-owned renewables.

In terms of agriculture, Plaid’s immediate priorities are to provide improved certainty to the farming sector by moving the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) away from single-year payments to a confirmed multi-year funding cycle. Plaid will also commission an independent review into paperwork requirements for farmers in Wales, with a view to eliminate any existing duplication. In-line with promises from many other parties in their manifestos, Plaid are also keen to reevaluate the food system in Wales and will start work on a National Food Strategy within their first 100 days of government.

Elsewhere, there are commitments to seek further funding from the UK government to restore coal tips and contaminated land, and to begin work on a new Flood Resilience and Preparedness Forum to coordinate national flood policies.

Climate, energy and planning

Looking at Plaid’s full manifesto, increasing renewable energy capacity and pursuing greater community ownership again emerge as major themes. A Just Transition Board is to be established to guide Net Zero strategy, and progress towards Net Zero goals should be easier to track with the creation of a new accessible online dashboard to this end. Minimum community-ownership stakes of 15-25% will be required for all energy projects over 10MW, as well as returning more profit from wind and solar farms to local authority hosts.

A National Energy Strategy will set out current and future energy needs in order to make long-term plans for infrastructure requirements, whilst a renewable energy sector deal will coordinate between government, industry, higher education, communities and trade unions.

The devolution of the Crown Estate is a long-held ambition of Plaid’s. If the Estate was devolved, profits could be returned to Wales, rather than to Westminster, which Plaid would invest into a new Wales Wealth Fund to support community-owned renewable energy projects, energy-efficient housing and energy infrastructure.

Facilitating the growth of renewable energy also forms the core of Plaid’s planning reforms, with firmer consenting timelines for renewable projects and permitted development rights for small-scale renewables, such as household solar and heat pumps.

In terms of infrastructure, Plaid will immediately prohibit the use of large steel lattice pylons for new 11-132kV lines. Instead, there will be a clear presumption in favour of placing this infrastructure underground; overhead infrastructure will only be permitted via low wooden poles or other less intrusive means.

Water and flooding

Water has long been an emotive political topic in Wales. The previous Welsh Government took steps shortly before the election to explore the future of water governance in Wales, including a green paper on this matter. Plaid have clearly set out their position on this matter by pledging to request the full devolution of powers relating to water and to establish a new Welsh water regulator, one of the options explored by the recent green paper. This Wales-specific regulator will have the power to set price controls and limit water company bonuses. Plaid will also explore the full nationalisation of the water industry in Wales.

An increasing area of concern over recent years, Plaid’s manifesto was appropriately stocked with actions on flooding. In addition to the creation of the aforementioned Forum, Plaid will also develop region-specific flood resilience plans for each catchment area and establish ‘Resilience Hubs’ in communities most at risk from flooding, which will providing emergency planning and equipment. Plaid have also pledged to improve ‘whole-catchment’ approaches to flood defence, including upstream nature-based solutions.

Plaid are pledging to work with other UK nations to ban the sale of horticultural peat and to continue work on peatland restoration across Wales.

Pollution

Like water, coal tips are another historically emotive political issue in Wales, with most parties pledging some form of action to secure their safety over the election campaign. Plaid plan to deliver a national programme to this end, as well as implementing a wider strategy on the remediation of contaminated land. The polluter-pays principle is central to Plaid’s policies on pollution, including in this instance.

Plaid want to promote nature-based solutions, such as wetland creation and soil restoration, as remediation techniques. Additionally, Plaid will work with the Westminster Government to ban ‘forever chemicals’ and improve monitoring of other harmful substances, such as PFAS.

Plaid aim to adopt World Health Organisation air quality standards, as part of wider plans to reduce air pollution.

Plaid plan to phase out “unnecessary” single-use plastics, such as some packaging for fresh produce.

Farming

In addition to providing immediate certainty to farmers with multi-year funding cycles, Plaid’s long-term ambition for the SFS is to work with farmers to restructure and tweak the scheme, rather than replace it. We await further details on this, including any amendments to Scheme actions or payment rates.

In terms of other agricultural regulations, Plaid aim to move away from the previous approach, which they term “farming by calendar”, to a more “science-led” and “outcomes-based” approach in many areas, including managing nitrate vulnerability and tackling agricultural run-off in the water system. A “science-led” approach will also be taken to tackling bovine TB, potentially opening the door to the use of badger culling as management technique.

In-line with their more small-scale, community focused approach to renewables, Plaid are pledging to protect “high quality” agricultural land from large-scale carbon offsetting or solar projects, instead focussing on supporting farmers are rural communities to invest in their own renewable projects.

A Food Strategy (mentioned above) will, among other things, develop new “Made in Wales” branding to support consumers to buy more local produce, ensure every supermarket has a dedicated Welsh produce section, work with the National Development Agency on innovations across processing sector, increase focus on the horticulture sector, with a target of 25% of vegetables served in Welsh schools to be of Welsh origin by 2030; target 50% of publicly procured food to be of Welsh origin (up from 23% currently).

Nature

Native woodland creation and restoration will be prioritised as a means of afforestation, as set out under a suite of policies titled ‘The right tree in the right place’. Farmers will be encouraged to integrate trees into their businesses through agroforestry practices and biochar, and public bodies will have increased targets to extend tree and hedgerow cover on their land. Policies also focus on urban tree cover, with prioritised funding earmarked for communities with the lowest existing coverage.

Under the new Environment Bill, the Welsh Government must set legally-binding nature targets within the next two years. Plaid are aiming to set “ambitious” targets on nature recovery and halting biodiversity loss by 2050, a longer time-scale than both the Westminster and Scottish governments.

Marine

Develop a new Marine Planning Framework with a renewed focus on small-scale fisheries, in-keeping with themes of much of the rest of their manifesto promises.

Plaid are also pledging to introduce more sustainable management of marine ecosystems through strengthened MPA protections and the phasing out of bottom trawling and dredging in sensitive habitats.

New strategies announced in this policy area include a National Seagrass Plan and a seabird conservation strategy.

Green jobs

Plaid Cymru were the only major party to present a policy on the National Nature Service in their manifesto, a concept that CIEEM was one of the founding partners for. Plaid will support the National Nature Service as a means to create new green jobs, as well as improving eco-literacy and relevant skills in the workforce. We await further details on their plans for the Service.