Welsh environment law aims to protect rivers and nature | UK News

A new law which is intended to protect nature and reverse the loss of wildlife has been introduced by the Welsh government.

If passed in the Senedd, it will allow members of the public to challenge organisations in Wales, including councils, on environmental issues such as water pollution.

Public bodies in Wales will also be forced to publish nature recovery action plans, with targets set by the Welsh government.

Campaigners say the bill is long overdue, citing the “systemic failure” of the Welsh government and regulatory bodies “to keep our rivers clean and prosecute those who pollute them”.

Campaigners and politicians have repeatedly told the government to “crack on” and criticised the time it has taken to plug what has been seen as a gap in environmental protections after Brexit.

People used to be able to complain free of charge to the European Commission if they felt their government and its public bodies were not doing enough to abide by green laws and protect nature.

It could decide to investigate on their behalf and force member states to take action – notable examples involving Wales included a failure to tackle sewage discharges, addressing emissions of harmful pollutants from Aberthaw coal-fired power station in the Vale of Glamorgan as well as air pollutions levels on some of Wales’ busiest roads.

The UK government set up an independent Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) in 2021 to carry out a similar role for England and Northern Ireland, while the Scottish government set up an organisation called Environmental Standards Scotland in the same year.

It left Wales as the only part of the UK without permanent arrangements in place.

The repeated criticism of campaigners will now be addressed with the establishment of the Office of Environmental Governance Wales.

Its role will include ensuring public authorities, such as the Welsh government, Natural Resources Wales and councils, are complying with and implementing the law.

Other elements of the bill include ensuring Welsh government ministers and the regulator Natural Resources Wales apply environmental protection when making policy.

It also puts “ambitious” targets focused on reversing the loss of wildlife into law with public bodies tasked with preparing and publishing a nature recovery action plan for their areas.

The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs Huw Irranca-Davies described it as “crucial legislation that will empower us to address climate and nature emergencies, safeguard our environment from harm and ensure a sustainable future for Wales”.

“Wales is facing unprecedented challenges in respect of climate change and biodiversity with severe weather events like floods, heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires significantly impacting our communities, our ecosystems and even our economy,” he said.

“The urgency to act has never been greater, and this Bill is an important step in strengthening our response and oversight of action in Wales.”

Alex Phillips of WWF Cymru said he was “very happy” at the bill’s introduction but “it has been more than eight years in the making so is long overdue”.

Specific targets on saving and restoring particular species and habitats will only be decided on after the bill becomes law, and with the latest stocktake of Wales’ wildlife in 2023 revealing that one in six species were at risk of disappearing.

“Other parts of the UK have moved ahead of us in this regard and quite a number of areas,” Mr Phillips said.

“We’ve known we’ve had to do this for nearly a decade now, and those major issues like water pollution haven’t just come overnight.”

Mr Phillips said research WWF had commissioned showed “a systemic failure” of Welsh government and other public bodies (as well as subsidiary bodies such as Natural Resources Wales) to act to address river pollution, “which is principally being caused by agriculture and sewage”.

He said: “Seven out of nine of Wales’  iconic rivers protected for species and habitats of international importance are now deemed to have reached excessive levels of phosphorus pollution.

“The Welsh government talks a good game about nature recovery and the meeting of international commitments, but the evidence shows that this isn’t being delivered on the ground.”

Anthony Slaughter who is the leader of Wales’ Green Party described the bill as “recklessly weak”.

He said: “The lack of urgency for people and planet is astounding.

“Communities suffering regular flooding, damaged infrastructure, land slips, and vanishing wildlife will wonder what on earth Labour are waiting for.”

Annie Smith, RSPB Cymru’s head of nature policy and casework, said she was “delighted” that the ‘Nature Positive’ Bill had “finally” been laid but said she “would like to see it go even further”.

“As it is coming right at the end of the Senedd term, it will place the tools to drive change in the hands of the next Welsh government and Senedd and it must leave no room for doubt over the urgency of stepping up action to reverse biodiversity loss,” she said.