Deputy First Minister joins IEMA members to discuss Welsh Environment Act

IEMA members yesterday had the privilege of being joined by the Deputy First Minister of Wales (and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs), Huw Irranca Davies MS, to discuss the implementation of key environmental legislation. In this short blog, IEMA's Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Ben Goodwin, looks at the key talking points from the online roundtable.

The roundtable was convened for IEMA members to share their insights on how Welsh government should work with businesses and communities across Wales in the delivery of the Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) Act.

The Act, which passed earlier in 2024, was created to:

• provide a framework for setting national air quality targets;
• to amend existing legislation relating to the national air quality strategy; local air quality management; smoke control; clean air zones/low emission zones and vehicle idling;
• to place a duty on Welsh Ministers to promote awareness of air pollution; and
• to place a duty on Welsh Ministers to publish a national soundscape strategy.

The roundtable kicked off with the Deputy First Minister setting out how passionate he is personally about improving air quality, with a particular focus on the need to ensure that this is done in an equitable way.

It’s no secret that lower socioeconomic communities, particularly in dense urban areas, tend to fare least well in terms of access to clean air, so it is imperative that alleviating this unwelcome trend is prioritised.

The Deputy First Minister also remarked on the requirement to develop future air quality targets grounded in robust evidence and promote greater awareness of the dangers of poor air quality to influence behaviour change.

Roundtable attendees, which were made up of IEMA members working across different sectors in Wales, then shared their insights and perspectives.

There was a consensus view that a shift in certain narratives around individual choice needs to happen to really drive change. For example, when it comes to individual vehicle use, the introduction of 20mph limits in Wales shouldn’t be considered as a move that has penalised drivers, but rather as one that has protected the health of communities.

It was also agreed that more should be done to encourage the development of positive attitudes towards using public transport. The use of this can also have significant air quality benefits. However, it should be acknowledged that this was somewhat tempered by other interventions shining a spotlight on the need for more investment to improve the quality of public transport provision in Wales.

Ultimately, high-performing public transport will make the choice easier for those living and working in Wales.

One final point that was made referred to the need for other pieces of legislation and policy that lean into the Environment Act to be effectively joined up with it e.g. in areas like agriculture and net zero.

We were very grateful to the Deputy First Minister for coming to talk to us and we hope to be able to support the Welsh government in the delivery of the Environment Act in the months and years to come.

IEMA is actively engaged in policy development in Wales. We also recently made a submission to the government’s consultation on environmental principles, a new environmental body and biodiversity targets. The details of our submission can be found here and we await the government’s response.