AM: Thank you,
Presiding Officer. Minister, you will obviously be aware, as all
Members and the general public are aware, of the disruptions at the
heart of Cardiff centre today and yesterday and the day before. One
of the accusations that the protesters have put against governments
of all colours, but in particular here, is that the governments are
not taking enough action on the agenda on climate change, and
residents, obviously, are at the brunt of the disruption that's
being caused. What would your message be to residents of Cardiff
who have been disrupted, because the protestors are levelling that
accusation against your Government?
AM (Minister for
Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs): The
protesters haven't tried to engage with me directly, but,
previously, officials have met with some members of them, so I'm
very aware of the protest that is going on.
I think the South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, , highlighted the issues: it's
about a balance—it's about a balance in the protection of the
right to a peaceful protest, but of course, it's not allowing
things to go too far in terms of disrupting the lives of ordinary
people. So, I think it is very important to recognise that.
As a Government, I believe that just declaring the climate
emergency and seeing how that galvanised local authorities, town
councils, individuals and businesses into action shows that we
take this very seriously, and the level of work we are doing—.
We're doing a huge amount of work in this area. I would encourage
the protestors, for instance, to read the low-carbon delivery
plan, which sets out those 100 policies and proposals as to what
we intend to do over the coming years.
