Senedd Elections 2026: Manifestos Summary
The Senedd (Welsh Parliament) elections are taking place on Thursday 7 May 2026. The election is guaranteed to be historic before a vote has even been cast, being the first Senedd election since the institution’s expansion from 60 to 96 MSs, and the first to use a fully proportional voting system.
You can hear more commentary on these changes, as well as the latest Senedd polling, which environmental issues are being most fiercely debated in this campaign and which policies are included in CIEEM’s manifesto, in April’s edition of our Nature in a Nutshell podcast (episode 36).
Most areas of environmental policy are devolved to Wales. Below you will find an overview of each major party’s proposals across different areas of environmental policy. This article is intended as a summary, rather than detailing the policies exactly as presented in each manifesto.
The parties are listed alphabetically.
CONSERVATIVES
Most of the environmental policies in the Conservative’s manifesto focuses on food security and flood defences. Read their manifesto in full here.
Agriculture
Increase the farming budget by £100m over the next Senedd term and abandon the current Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), replacing it with a “food security first” scheme. A change of course in tackling Bovine TB (likely being more receptive to badger culling) and nitrate pollution (by scrapping the Wales-wide zone in favour of a more targeted catchment approach). Support Welsh produce by amending public procurement rules and improving labelling.
Natural environment
Replace Natural Resources Wales (NRW) with a new independent regulator. Establish a £20m Wildlife Wales Fund to “support conservation efforts across Wales.” Introduce a moratorium on “industrial scale” renewable projects in the countryside and prioritise burying infrastructure cables underground in rural areas. Improved monitoring for air pollution.
Energy and climate
Promote marine and nuclear energy projects. “Encourage” developers of new buildings and car parks to utilise roof space for solar projects.
Planning
Establish “Blue Belts” in areas of high flood risk to prevent development, as well as establishing a National Flood Agency to coordinate flood risk management. An “infrastructure-first” approach to new housing developments, including incentivising local authorities to make quicker planning decisions and penalise developers who fail to deliver housing projects with existing planning permission.
Water
Improved monitoring for water pollution.
Green jobs
Develop a Growth Strategy for agriculture and agricultural jobs.
GREEN PARTY
The Green Party recognises the overlap between the climate and nature emergencies and have a raft of policies to tackle both. They are committing to significant action at a fast pace to address climate and energy issues. Unlike other parties, they oppose nuclear power. Addressing environmental issues within agriculture through increased regulation and monitoring is a strong focus in their manifesto. Read their manifesto in full here.
Agriculture
Introduce a Welsh Good Food Bill to align food production with nature and climate goals. “Simplify” agricultural regulations and invest in digital tools to aid administration. Provide multi-year funding through the SFS and ensure all layers of the scheme are fully operational by 2026. At least two-thirds of SFS funding will be designated for the optional and collaborative layers by 2030, to aid nature recovery and climate adaptation. Introduce minimum SFS payment thresholds to support new entrants and small enterprises. Introduce National Minimum Standards.
Improved monitoring and planning in soil health. Introduce a national pesticide reduction target. Strengthen tenant security and expand community ownership of land. Introduce a National Horticulture Strategy and horticulture-specific support payments to expand Welsh production of fruit and vegetables. Aim for 10% of farmland to be organic by 2030 through an Organic Action Plan. Improve access to green finance for farmers. End the sale of horticultural peat. Reduce reliance on imported animal feeds linked to offshored environmental harm. Expand the Farming Connect programme.
Natural environment
“No regression” principle regarding environmental protections for all new laws. Ensure NRW is “properly resourced”. Publish a National Rewilding Strategy to support ecosystem restoration and native species reintroductions. Bring 70% of protected sites into favourable condition by 2030. “Careful planning” of energy infrastructure to avoid damage to ecosystems and protected landscapes. Address historical environmental risks by stabilising coal tips and applying a “polluter pays” principles to historic pollution. Introduce Clean Air Zones and adopt latest World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality standards into Welsh law.
Energy and climate
Maintain commitment for 100% of Wales’ electricity demand to be met by renewables by 2035. Oppose all nuclear power and fossil fuel extraction. “Rapid” transition to a community-owned energy system. Require rooftop solar panels on all new buildings, and all new housing developments to use fossil-free heating systems. Accelerate decarbonisation of the public sector estate.
Explore mine-water heating networks. A Methan Action Plan to reduce methane emissions. “Scale up” home retrofit programmes and investment in energy-saving upgrades. Call for the devolution of the Crown Estate to give Wales control over renewable resources and economic benefit.
Planning
Incorporate green infrastructure, including tree planning, into urban development. Introduce a Land Use Framework to ensure land delivers multiple benefits, including food security, carbon storage, biodiversity and public access. Expand community ownership of land through funding and law. Introduce a Welsh Right to Roam. Improve access to flood defence funding and protect investment in prevention. Implement Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to prevent flooding impacts.
Water
Reduce nutrient pollution in rivers and lakes by at least 50% and ensure 100% of water bodies are actively monitored by 2027. Aim to prevent pollution through advice provisions to land managers. Reduce threshold for poultry units falling under the Environmental Permitting Regulations.
Work with the UK Government to ban “forever chemicals” contaminating water bodies. Designate remaining Maring Conservation Zones and ban bottom trawling and dredging within protected areas. Restoration programmes for marine and coastal ecosystems. Seek powers from UK Government to place Dŵr Cymru into special measures and pursue public ownership.
Green jobs
National Green Jobs Plan to ensure workforce has relevant environment/renewable skills.
LABOUR
Much of Labour’s environmental policy is a continuation of their previous work, having been the party of Government since the last election (and indeed since the inception of devolution in Wales). There is a clear commitment to progress current plans aimed at environmental improvement and a strong focus on renewable energy. Read their manifesto in full here.
Agriculture
Continue to develop the SFS. Aim to increase Welsh produce procurement in the public sector by 50% by 2030.
Natural environment
Ban the sale of horticultural peat. Support reintroduction of beavers. Create an “urban rewilding taskforce” to increase nature in urban areas. Grow the National Forest and create a trail from northern to southern Wales. “Plant more trees than ever before” and increase protections for trees. Introduce new Marine Conservation Zones. Make 400 disused coal tips safer. Work to ban more single-use plastics. Introduce statutory air pollution targets. Increase restrictions on gamebird shooting and support a UK-wide ban on trail hunting.
Energy and climate
Maintain current progress by retaining ban on fracking and opposition to fossil fuel extraction. Aim for a Net Zero public sector by 2030. Pursue opportunities to build new solar farmers on disused coal tips and use mine-water to heat more homes. Promote the devolution of the Crown Estate.
Support Wylfa nuclear energy project. Support community-owned energy projects, with a target of 1.5GW of renewable energy to be locally owned by 2035. Reduce regulations preventing installation of heat pumps for houses. Ensure all new houses include renewable energy generation as standard and support energy efficiency upgrades to 100,000 homes over the next Senedd term, as well as increasing retrofit capacity.
Planning
Make all new houses “nature-friendly” with design features such as swift bricks. Make Wales the “fastest nation in the UK to get planning permission.” Maintain flood defence funding and improved NbS prevention approaches.
Water
Introduce a Clean Water Bill to create a new water regulator.
Green jobs
Publish a new Industrial Strategy with clean energy jobs one of the major focusses. Fund new jobs in nature restoration and flood defence.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
The Liberal Democrats focus on easing the transition of farmers through the SFS, rather than significantly altering the scheme. There is a strong focus on renewable energy, specifically the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project. Read their manifesto in full here.
Agriculture
Invest an extra £50m per year into “sustainable and nature-friendly farming”. Introduce a National Food Strategy to ensure food security. Deliver adoption of new farming payments through investment in advice and transition grants. Improve labelling for Welsh produce.
Natural environment
Introduce a Wildlife Act for Wales to strengthen protections for animals. Introduce a long-term national flood and coastal erosion strategy. Provide “adequate” support for afforestation, habitat creation and SSSIs.
Energy and climate
Invest to make Wales a world-leader in tidal and hydro power, including delivering the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon. Increase offshore wind capacity. Support green hydrogen pilot projects. Require installation of solar panels on all new homes, large buildings and car parks. A ten-year “emergency upgrade” programme to make homes warmer and cheaper to heat.
Planning
Ensure NbS is central to tackling climate change and reducing flooding. Prioritise brownfield land for new developments.
Water
Legislate to ban raw sewage dumping in water bodies. Introduce a Wales-specific water regulator.
Green jobs
Establish mentorship and apprenticeship programmes in the farming sector.
PLAID CYMRU
Plaid Cymru recognise the overlap between the climate and nature emergencies. There is a strong focus on the green economy throughout the manifesto, particularly on utilising Wales’ natural resources and the community ownership of assets. Read their manifesto in full here.
Agriculture
Provide tailored support for agriculture and rural business through a new National Development Agency and Rural Development Strategy. Develop a Food Strategy to strengthen local procurement and food security, including increasing Welsh-origin food in the public sector form 23% to at least 50%.
Establish multi-year funding for the SFS. Aim to reduce bureaucratic burden on farming. Implement a new approach to tackling Bovine TB, recognising wildlife as a source of infection. Protect “high quality” agricultural land from being sold for large-scale corporate carbon offsetting projects, instead making it easier for individual farmers to invest in their own renewable energy projects.
Natural environment
Adopt a “right tree in the right place” approach to afforestation and extend tree and hedgerow cover targets to include publicly owned or managed land. Promote uptake of agroforestry options. Increase urban tree cover with prioritised funding for areas with the lowest coverage. Ban the sale of horticultural peat, alongside continuing work on peatland restoration. “Improve” marine planning. Immediately prohibit the use of large steel lattice pylons for new 11-132kV lines, with a clear presumption in favour of undergrounding, permitting overhead alternatives only in cases where they would be less intrusive.
Work with the UK Government to ban ‘forever chemicals’, strengthen monitoring and regulation of such substances, and promote NbS remediation techniques. Adopt WHO standards on air quality. Phase out “unnecessary” single-use plastics. Develop a new Marine Planning Framework to provide a more consistent approach to marine management. Phase out bottom trawling and dredging in sensitive areas and strengthen protections within Marine Protected Areas. Support a National Seagrass Plan and the growth of the seaweed industry. Implement a seabird conservation strategy.
Energy and climate
Update the Climate and Nature Action Plan with a vision to achieve Net Zero by 2040, with an online dashboard to improve public reporting on progress. Establish a Just Transition Board to guide Net Zero strategy. Develop a National Energy Strategy to set out Wales’ long-term infrastructure needs and help Wales make the most of emerging green technology, including green hydrogen. Introduce a new Renewable Energy Sector Deal to coordinate action between stakeholders across sectors and provide predictable consenting timelines for renewable projects.
Pursue devolution of the Crown Estate and invest profits in a Wales Wealth Fund to support community energy development and energy-efficient housing. Create a single national energy company with expanded powers to grow community ownership of renewable energy, and require a minimum community ownership stake of 15-25% in all energy projects over 10MW.
Planning
A reform of spatial planning to find a balance between food, nature, access and local development needs. Ensure regulations better facilitate the green transition, including permitted development rights for household small-scale renewables. Create a Flood Resilience and Preparedness Forum for Wales to coordinate a national strategy.
Establish Flood Resilience Hubs in at-risk communities and develop resilience strategies for each catchment area. Explore NbS catchment-based approaches to defence. Deliver a national programme to secure and restore disused coal tips and remediation of contaminated land, based on a polluter pays principle.
Water
Purse the full devolution of powers over water, establish a new Wales-specific water regulator, and explore the nationalisation of the industry in Wales. Set new targets to reduce river and sea pollution, based on the polluter pays principle, supported by increased monitoring of water bodies and moving away from a “farming by calendar” approach to tackling agricultural run-offs, towards a more outcome-led system.
Green jobs
Support the National Nature Service to create new green jobs, improve relevant skills within the workforce and improve eco-literacy.
REFORM UK
Reform will end public funding of NGOs and charities which they deem “politically biased”. Whilst there are no details on which organisations would be affected, CIEEM falls under the umbrella of organisations that could potentially be included given that we work in the policy sphere (although we don’t receive any routine Government funding outside of specific projects). Reform’s nature and climate policies can largely be deemed deregulatory, with some particularly sharp cuts to targets around climate change and funding for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Read their manifesto in full here.
Agriculture
End the SFS, replacing it with a greater variety of options for farmers, and focus on reducing paperwork. Increase livestock production payments and replace environmental regulations with a voluntary scheme. Develop a ten-year Food Strategy to improve food security, including production baselines for beef, lamb and dairy. No mandates or quotes for local procurement. Transform Hybu Cig Cymru into a farmer-owned organisation. Include targeted wildlife control as part of tackling Bovine TB.
Natural environment
Abolish NRW, placing many relevant policy areas under direct ministerial oversight. End the designation of all of Wales as a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone, replacing with a catchment-based targeting system. No ban on release of gamebirds, and a review on current licenses, with a view to easing restrictions. Increase funding for coal tip and mine remediation.
Energy and climate
Abolish Net Zero goals (including 2030 and 2040 devolved targets), and cut relevant reporting requirements to the “bare legal minimum.” Ban new onshore wind farms and end the use of “significant areas” of arable land being used for solar farms. Repeal elements of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 used to promote environmental concerns in infrastructure development. Terminate funding for heat pumps and scale back funding for low-carbon industrial heat networks. Support nuclear power under the devolved remit by accelerating planning decisions and the delivery of associated infrastructure.
Planning
Review legacy EU laws pertaining to the environment and energy, with a view to removing obstacles to infrastructure development. Consult on mechanisms to ensure a fairer allocation of funding for flood defences.
Water
Introduce a Welsh Rivers Act to protect rivers based on “global best practice.”
Green jobs
A national rural apprenticeship scheme to address rural job shortages.