Wellbeing of Wales, 2024 - A globally responsible Wales

Author: Stephanie Taylor

A globally responsible Wales: A nation which, when doing anything to improve the economic, social, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales, takes account of whether doing such a thing may make a positive contribution to global wellbeing. This goal recognises that in an inter-connected world what we do to make Wales a sustainable nation can have positive and adverse impacts outside of Wales.

In 2022, it was estimated that greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere directly from within Wales totalled 35.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), a 0.1% decrease since 2021.

In 2023, there were 559 referrals of potential victims of modern slavery received by police forces in Wales. This is a 4% increase compared to 2022 (536 referrals). 

The Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support in less than 5 cases related to a possible forced marriage and/or possible female genital mutilation in 2023. 

In 2023/24, there were 21,493 entrants for the Global Citizenship Challenge at key stage 4, and 4,523 at advanced level who chose the global citizenship challenge component. There were 5,048 entries for the new advanced global community project.

The proportion of children who were up to date with their routine immunisations by four years of age was 84.3% for the year ending March 2024. This is a slight decrease compared to 84.5% for the year ending March 2023.

In 2023-24 uptake of the 6 in 1 vaccine (DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB) in one year old children in Wales was 94.2%, a slight decrease from 94.5% the previous year.

In 2023-24 MMR uptake of one dose by two years of age remained the same as in the previous year, with a 92.9% uptake. This is below the target uptake rate of 95%. 

At the end of March 2024, more than 2,800 asylum seekers were receiving support in Wales. The numbers receiving support have continued to increase since 2022. This was an increase of 15% in 2024, since the same quarter in 2023. 

As at the end of March 2024, a total of 1,488 refugees have been resettled in Wales under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (2016 to 2022) and UK Resettlement Scheme (2021 onwards).

In 2022/23, there were 28,710 enrolments from international students for higher educations providers in Wales. This comprises of 19% of enrolments where the student’s domicile is known.

Data for some of the national indicators suggest that progress is being made towards the globally responsible Wales goal. These include long-term improvements to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and other national indicators which overlap with the resilient Wales goal. There is a national milestone for greenhouse gases which is for Wales to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In 2022, it was estimated that greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere directly from within Wales totalled 35.7million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), a decrease of 36% from 1990. Consumption emissions associated with goods and services consumed by Welsh households were estimated to be 25.0 MtCO2e in 2020, a decrease of 37% from 2001.    

There is also a national milestone relating to global footprint which is for Wales to use only its fair share of the world’s resources by 2050. Our global footprint is the total environmental burden that society places on the planet. Recent estimates produced by JNCC and the Global Footprint Network suggest that the global footprint per person reduced by nearly a third between 2004 and 2018. However, this remains over twice the estimated biocapacity of Wales. If the entire world population lived like the citizens of Wales, humanity would require 2.08 Earths.

The numbers of asylum seekers receiving support has increased since 2022. There was an increase of 15% in 2024, compared to the same quarter in 2023. Numbers remained stable between 2016 and 2020 and fell between 2020 and 2021.

Vaccination uptake in young children continues to be high but has decreased slightly since its highest levels in 2013-14, for both ‘6 in 1’ DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB1 for those reaching their first birthday, and MMR uptake of one dose by two years of age.

On 1 January 2016, the world began implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the transformative plan of action based on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to address urgent global challenges over the next 15 years. The SDGs emphasise a universal agenda that requires all UN member states, both rich and poor alike, to take action to support sustainable development.

There are many factors which dictate whether Wales is becoming a more globally responsible nation.

The Well-being of Future Generations Act, with its Welsh specific well-being goals, provides a framework for Wales’s contribution to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. For the most part, the other six narrative reports, through their assessment of our progress towards the national well-being goals, demonstrate our overall contribution as a nation to the international sustainable development agenda. For example, we report elsewhere on national trends on issues such as poverty, inequalities and decent work. This narrative on a globally responsible Wales therefore focuses on areas that are most relevant to the global agenda in particular.

The 50 national indicators for Wales have also been mapped for indicative purposes against the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to help you navigate between progress here in Wales, and the relationship to each of the SDGs.

National Indicators: mapping to Well-being and UN Sustainable Development Goals (interactive tool)

Whilst some of the narrative is drawn from national indicators and official statistics, some of the data presented in this section is contextual and uses data or factual statements related to specific policies or programmes, where we have considered it relevant to the overall narrative. These data are not collected through official statistics sources, and although reported here for context, we cannot provide full assurance about data quality. However, where possible, more information about the data can be found in the Quality Report for National Wellbeing Indicators and the non-indicator quality report. 

Goal 13 of the UN SDGs is to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”.

People in Wales are concerned about climate change.

The National Survey results for 2022-23 show that the vast majority (97%) of people in Wales think the world’s climate is changing. In 2022-23, 74% of adults were fairly concerned or very concerned about climate change, similar to the results in 2021-22 (76%) and in 2020-21 (76%).

In 2022-23, 56% of people think that climate change is mainly or entirely due to human activity. 94% think human activity is involved to some extent in the world’s climate changing.

There is a national milestone for greenhouse gases which is for Wales to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 

In 2022, it was estimated that emissions released into the atmosphere directly from within Wales (known as territorial emissions) totalled 35.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), a decrease of 0.1% since 2021. The small decrease in emissions between 2021 and 2022 was primarily driven by a combination of increased emissions in the fuel supply sector, driven largely by an increase in refinery combustion emissions, and increased activity at power stations due to increased activity following the COVID-19 pandemic. These increases are offset by a decrease in emissions in the industry sector associated with iron and steel production, and reduced emissions in the buildings and product use sector, where the combination of 2022 being the hottest year on record, and increased gas prices, has likely led to a behavioural change in residential energy use. 

Figure 7.1: Estimated Welsh territorial emissions of greenhouse gases (Mt CO2e), 1990 to 2022 [Note 1]

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Description of Figure 7.1: The line chart shows the volume of territorial greenhouse gas emissions (megatonnes) in Wales in between 1990 and 2022. Emissions in Wales have fallen by 36% since the base year (1990). There was no change in emissions between 2021 and 2022. 

Source: National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory

[Note 1]: previously published figures have been revised and marked with (r)

There has been a fall of 36% since the base year (1990) emissions. The long-term emission reduction trend since the base year are mainly due to efficiencies in energy generation and business sector heating (of buildings and for processes), the use of natural gas to replace some coal and other fuels as well as abatement in some chemical industries, reductions in emissions from anaerobic waste management and variations in manufacturing output (for example in iron and steel, bulk chemical production). 

The largest emission sector was the industry sector, which accounted for 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Wales. This sector is dominated by fuel combustion in the iron and steel production process, such as blast furnaces, coke production, flaring, and sinter production. 

The electricity supply sector is the second largest sector making up 18% of Welsh emissions. This is followed by the agriculture sector (16%,) the domestic transport sector (15%), the buildings and product uses sector (13%), the fuel supply sector (7%), with other sectors each making smaller contributions of 5% or less. 

These figures on territorial greenhouse gas emissions only take account of emissions within Wales. This does not include emissions associated with the production of goods and services outside of Wales even if these are imported into Wales. Equally, emissions associated with the production of goods and services in Wales are counted as Welsh emissions even if these are exported for consumption elsewhere. 

Greenhouse gas emissions associated with goods and services consumed by Welsh households (known as consumption emissions or carbon footprint) are estimated. These estimates measure the emissions directly produced by Welsh households (including heating and driving, for example), emissions that occur within the UK to produce goods and services consumed in Wales, and ‘imported’ emissions that occur in other countries to produce goods and services consumed in Wales. 

Overall, consumption emissions have decreased since 2001. Between 2001 and 2020 emissions have decreased from 40.0 MtCO2e to 25.0 MtCO2e (down 37%). When comparing 2001 and 2019 to remove effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the decrease is approximately 21%. Emissions embedded within imported goods and services (consumed in Wales but produced overseas) were the largest source of emissions over this time period. 

These estimates have a high degree of uncertainty because it is difficult to measure emissions embedded within imports and these data are scaled to a Welsh level using a survey with a limited sample size. Therefore, variations in annual data may not reflect actual changes to emissions and the longer term trend over time should be considered. 

The territorial and consumption emissions can be considered alongside each other. These emission estimates measure different sources of emissions and use different methods, the territorial emissions use more robust data sources and methods so are more certain than consumption emissions. The consumption emissions indicator helps to identify whether decreases to emissions within Wales are being offset by emissions 'imported' from abroad. Unlike other UK nations, territorial emissions are higher in Wales than consumption emissions. This could be due to Wales having a higher level of heavy industry and non-renewable energy generation relative to the population than other UK nations. 

Figure 7.2: Estimated Welsh consumption emissions footprint (Mt CO2e), 2001 to 2020

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Description of Figure 7.2: The line chart shows the volume of estimated consumption emissions (megatonnes) in Wales show a general downward trend since 2001. Between 2001 and 2020, Wales’ estimated consumption emissions footprint has decreased by 37%, from 40 Mt CO2e to 25 Mt CO2e.

Source: Consumption Emissions Footprint, Wales, 2001 to 2020 (Mt CO2e), University of Leeds consumption based emissions estimate.

Our global footprint is the total environmental burden that society places on the planet. Globally, we are consuming more natural resources than the world is able to replace. 

One way of measuring our global footprint and this ecological deficit is to calculate what is known as an Ecological Footprint, which represents the area of land needed to provide raw materials, energy and food as well as absorb pollution and waste created. It is measured in global hectares.   

Our global footprint is influenced by the food people eat, the way we travel and the energy we use at home. It also accounts for the purchase of products and services, from insurance to televisions to items of clothing. It also includes impacts from construction activity and investment in infrastructure. 

The national milestone for this indicator is that Wales will only use its fair share of the world’s resources by 2050. A global footprint for Wales has recently been calculated by JNCC using the Ecological Footprint methodology. This is part of a wider project to improve understanding of the global environmental footprint and impacts of commodities that are consumed within Wales, but that may be produced anywhere in the world.

An Ecological Footprint was produced using two slightly different methodologies – one making use of Wales-specific data (only available for 2019), and the other using different and slightly simpler input data (apportioning UK data to Wales) to enable the production of a time series. Due to its ability to monitor change over time, the latter is being used to report progress against the national indicator and milestone. 

Using the Ecological Footprint methodology, Wales’s global footprint has generally decreased from around 17.0 million global hectares (gha) in 2004 to 12.3 million gha in 2018. The global footprint per person has reduced by nearly a third over this time period, and stood at 3.9 gha per person in 2018. However, this remains over twice the estimated biocapacity of Wales. In other words, if the entire world population lived like the citizens of Wales, humanity would require 2.08 Earths.

Figure 7.3: Global footprint, global hectares (gha) per person, 2004 to 2018

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Description of Figure 7.3: A line chart showing the global footprint (gha) per person in Wales, at three/four yearly intervals between 2004 and 2018. The global footprint per person has gradually decreased over the period. 

Source: Understanding the Global Environmental Footprint and Impacts of Welsh Consumption, JNCC

An alternative measure of Wales’ Ecological Footprint uses slightly higher quality input data, but does not allow for comparison over time. This footprint was around 10.7 million gha in 2019, equivalent to approximately 3.4 gha per person. 

In 2021-22 the National Survey for Wales, for the first time, asked people about what activities they had done to help with international issues such as poverty, human rights, war, refugees or climate change. These questions were asked prior to the war in Ukraine.

11% of those surveyed have done three or more of the four following actions to help with global issues: donating or raising money, campaigning, volunteering, or changing what they buy.

31% of people say they have donated money in the preceding three months to help with global issues. The most common issues people donated money for were international poverty (21%) and to support refugees (15%). 36% of women say they gave money, compared with 26% of men.

17% of people say they have campaigned for international issues in last 12 months to help with global issues and 5% say they have volunteered. 11% of people campaigned for human rights issues and 10% against climate change, while 2% volunteered to stop poverty and 2% to help refugees.

54% say they have changed what they buy because of global issues. People aged under 75 are more likely to have changed what they buy (57%) than people aged 75 and over (34%). People aged 25 to 44 were the group most likely to have made changes to what they buy (63%).

Referrals of potential victims of modern slavery in Wales continue to have increased in recent years.

The UN SDGs include a target on ‘Ending modern slavery and human trafficking’. Modern slavery is the term used within the UK and is defined within the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Act categorises offences of Slavery, Servitude and Forced or Compulsory Labour and Human Trafficking.

According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), the recorded incidents of potential victims of slavery to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) or via the Duty to Notify (DtN) process continue to increase each year in Wales.

In 2023, there were 559 referrals of potential victims of modern slavery received by police forces in Wales. This is a 4% increase compared to 2022 (536 referrals).  Some increases in recent years are probably due to improved reporting and changes in how the data are recorded. 

Figure 7.4: NRM referrals sent to police forces in Wales for investigation, 2018 to 2023

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Description of figure 7.4: A line chart showing the number of referrals to the National Referral Mechanism for police forces in Wales between 2018 and 2023. The number of referrals has increased over the time period.

Source: National Referral Mechanism statistics, Home Office

In 2023 116 of the referrals were for females (21%) and 441 were for males (79%), and 2 (0.4%) were recorded as ‘other’, or ‘not specified or unknown’.

There were 189 (34%) individuals referred for adult exploitation categories and 348 (62%) referred for exploitation as a minor. 22 (4%) were not specified or unknown.

The most common type of exploitation for adults was ‘labour and criminal’ and for minors this was ‘criminal’. However, for female minors the most common exploitation was ‘sexual’.

Forced marriage or possible female genital mutilation is being identified in Wales.

Goal 5 of the UN SDGs include a target to ‘eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation’.

According to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) gave advice or support in less than 5 cases related to a possible forced marriage and/or possible female genital mutilation in 2023 in Wales. This compared to 6 cases last year making up 2% of the UK total. 

Due to low numbers relative to some other parts of the UK, the trend for Wales has been volatile between 2015 and 2023. Following the introduction of the first lockdown, referrals to the FMU decreased. This may be attributable to reasons derived from the pandemic, such as restrictions on weddings and travel. A procedural change regarding whether to log a new case as a referral or a general enquiry is also likely to have had a minor impact on the overall number of cases compared with previous years and so direct comparisons should be treated with caution.

Description of Figure 7.5: A table of the number of cases where the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) gave advice or support in Wales in relation to a possible forced marriage and/or possible female genital mutilation (FGM) in Wales in 2023. Due to low numbers relative to some other parts of the UK, the trend for Wales has been volatile between 2015 to 2023.

Source: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Forced Marriage Unit statistics 2023

[Note 1] Owing to changes in recording practices the data from 2020 are not directly comparable with the data in previous years.

[Note 2] Some shorthand is used in this table, [c]= less than 5.

The UN SDG ‘Quality Education’ recognises the importance of obtaining a quality education and all learners acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality and global citizenship.

In 2023/24, there were 21,493 entrants for the Global Citizenship Challenge at key stage 4, and 4,523 at advanced level who chose the global citizenship challenge component. There were 5,048 entries for the new advanced global community project. For key stage 4, provisional data shows 98.8% of entries achieved a level 1 pass or above, and at the advanced level, 98.9% achieved a level 3 pass or above. For the new advanced global community project, provisional data shows 72.1% achieved a C or above, and 97.1% achieved an E or above. 

Young people in Wales are learning about global issues but there’s been a decline in recent years in international students attending higher education institutions in Wales. 

A large number of students from a range of countries attend higher education institutions in Wales. 

In 2022/23, there were 28,710 enrolments from international students for higher education providers in Wales. This comprised of 19% of enrolments where the student’s domicile was known. Of these, 2,900 were from students of European Union domicile (2% of all enrolments where the student’s domicile was known), while 25,805 were from students of non-European Union domicile (17% of all enrolments where the student’s domicile was known).  This represents a record high number of higher education enrolments in Wales from non-UK domiciles.

Figures previously provided excluded students at the Welsh national centre of the Open University and higher education enrolments at further education providers. However, excluding data for FE providers and the Open University provides a less comprehensive view of higher education in Wales, and omits a large number of students studying at HE level. Data that includes the Open University and higher education enrolments at further education providers in Wales is only available from 2016/17. Consequently, figures and proportions may differ to those previously reported.

Figure 7.6: Percentage of the student population at Welsh higher education institutions who are international students, 2016/17 to 2022/23 [Note 1] [Note 2]

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Description of Figure 7.6: The line chart shows the percentage of the student population at Welsh higher education institutions who are international students, from 2016/17 to 2022/23. In 2022/23 19% of enrolments were from international students. 

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

[Note 1] Numbers based on enrolments for students who are in the standard higher education registration population, and are studying in Wales (including the Welsh national centre of the Open University and higher education enrolments at further education providers) 

[Note 2] Percentage calculations are based on the students whose country of permanent address is known. This means that students whose country of permanent address is unknown are excluded from calculations.

Some adults in Wales are facing food poverty and are concerned about affording food.

The UN SDG ‘Zero Hunger’ aims to end hunger and achieve food security and improve nutrition.

The 2022-23 National Survey for Wales reported that 3% of households had received food from a food bank in the last 12 months with a further 3% saying they hadn’t but had wanted to. 

The survey also reported 5% of adults said there was at least one day in the previous fortnight where they had gone without a substantial meal. This was similar to 2021-22 (4%). 

The number of asylum seekers receiving support has remained steady in the past few years but has increased since the start of the decade.

Goal 16 of the UN SDGs is to ‘promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels’.

Complete figures for the numbers of asylum seekers and refugees who are resettled in Wales are not available. However, figures are published relating to the number of refugees resettled under the UK Resettlement Scheme (and formerly the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme), and the number of those currently receiving asylum support.

As at the end of March 2024, a total of 1,488 refugees have been resettled in Wales under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (2016 to 2022) and UK Resettlement Scheme (2021 onwards).

Section 95 provides support for asylum seekers who have an asylum claim or appeal outstanding and failed asylum seekers who had children in their household when their appeal rights were exhausted, and includes those in receipt of:

• Dispersed accommodation: those in receipt of accommodation only, or both accommodation and subsistence.
• Subsistence only: whereby the applicant receives cash to support themselves but who have found their own accommodation.

At the end of March 2024, more than 2,800 asylum seekers were receiving support in Wales. The numbers receiving support have continued to increase since 2022. There was an increase of 15% in 2024, since the same quarter in 2023. Numbers remained stable between 2016 and 2020 and fell between 2020 and 2021.

Figure 7.7: Number of asylum seekers in receipt of Section 95 support, year ending March 2004 to 2023

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Description of Figure 7.7: The line chart shows the number of asylum seekers receiving support remained steady in the years 2016 to 2020, followed by decreases until 2022, with increases in 2023 and 2024. 

Source: Home Office Immigration statistics, year ending March 2024

In 2022 the war in Ukraine caused many people to flee the conflict. As at the end of 16 July 2024, over 9,500 visas have been issued to people from Ukraine with a sponsor in Wales. The Welsh Government provided a “super sponsor” role to over 4,600 of these. Over 7,700 people with sponsors in Wales had arrived in the UK at the 16 July 2024.

Vaccination uptake in young children continues to be high but has decreased slightly since its highest levels in 2013-14, for both ‘6 in 1’ DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB1 for those reaching their first birthday, and MMR uptake of one dose by two years of age. 

The UN SDG Sustainable Development goal ‘Good Health and Well-being’ states the importance of providing access to affordable and essential medicines and vaccines. The World Health Organisation has a vision for a world without measles, rubella and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS).

‘6 in 1’ DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB1 vaccine uptake (all three doses) in children reaching their first birthday decreased slightly to 94.2%, compared to 94.5% in the previous year.

MMR uptake of one dose by two years of age remained the same as last year, with uptake of 92.9%. This is suboptimal for preventing outbreaks of measles (target uptake is 95%).

The proportion of children who were up to date with their routine immunisations by four years of age was 84.3% this year. Nationally, the percentage of children up to date with their routine immunisations by four years of age ranged from 77.9% in the most deprived quintile of LSOAs to 89.6% in the least deprived quintile of LSOAs. The difference in uptake between the least deprived quintile and the most deprived quintile was 11.7 percentage points. This is a widening of the inequality gap compared to 2022-23 (11.2 percentage points). However, further work is needed to identify the root cause of these inequalities and identify interventions to reduce this gap.

Figure 7.8: Percentage uptake of childhood immunisations in Wales, 2008-09 to 2023-24 [Note 1] [Note 2] [Note 3]

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Description of Figure 7.8: The line chart shows percentage uptake of MMR and the 6 in 1 vaccine from 2008-09 to 2023-24.  The uptake for both the '6 in 1' and MMR have decreased since they reached their highest levels in 2013-14. Uptake in 2023-24 was 92.9% for MMR, and 94.2% for ‘6 in 1’.

Source: National immunisation uptake data, Public Health Wales

[Note 1] The ‘6 in 1’ vaccine, protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (Whooping Cough), polio, Hib and Hepatitis B infection. The majority of one year olds referred to in this report would have been eligible for the ‘6 in 1’ vaccine, replacing the ‘5 in 1’ vaccine due at four, eight and 12 months.

[Note 2] MMR protects against measles, mumps and rubella. Data shows uptake for the first dose at two years of age.

[Note 3] Chart axis does not start at zero.

Previous Well-being of Wales reports, have included further analysis of:

• Eco-Schools 
• Physical punishment of children 
• World heritage sites

This report covers a wide range of subjects, and therefore in this report it is only possible to consider high level measures of progress. Further reading can be found below: 

Statistics on Ukrainians in the UK (Home Office (HO))

UNESCO World heritage list (UNESCO)

Eco-Schools (Eco-Schools)

Eco-Schools (Keep Wales Tidy)

Ending physical punishment of children in Wales

Emissions of greenhouse gases by year,  National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (StatsWales)

Consumption Emissions in Wales, Wales Consumption Emissions Footprint 

Global Footprint: Understanding the Global Environmental Footprint and Impacts of Welsh Consumption (JNCC)

Modern Slavery: National Referral Mechanism and Duty to Notify statistics UK (HO)

Forced Marriage Unit statistics (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)

Global Citizenship Education, analysis provided by WJEC (see corresponding data tables)

Percentage of the student population at Welsh higher education institutions who are international students: 

• StatsWales 
• HESA

Number of asylum seekers in receipt of section 95 support in Wales (HO)

Ukraine sponsorship scheme statistics (HO and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)):

• Ukraine Sponsorship scheme (HO)
• Devolved Administrations at local authority level (DLUHC)

Vaccination Coverage:

• National immunisation uptake data (Public Health Wales)

National survey for Wales