Lesley Griffiths MS, Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
I attended the second and third meetings of the Net Zero, Energy and Climate Change Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on 30 November and 8 February respectively.
On 30 November, the meeting was chaired by the Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth. The meeting was also attended by Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, Edwin Poots MLA, Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Diane Dodds MLA, Minister for the Economy, and Lee Waters MS, Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport.
The meeting included discussion of the latest UK-EU trade negotiations, where I expressed my disappointment a decision between a UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and Carbon Emissions Tax had still not been taken.
We also discussed the advice being produced by the Climate Change Committee (CCC). I highlighted Wales’s reliance on the UK Government to reach our international commitments and decarbonisation targets.
Finally, as part of a discussion about the UK Government’s Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, I emphasised the need to ensure governments work together and highlighted the support Welsh industry will need to decarbonise.
On 8 February, I chaired the meeting on behalf of the Welsh Government. Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth and UK International Champion on Adaptation and Resilience for the COP26 Presidency, Lord Callanan, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Kemi Badenoch MP, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State represented the UK Government. Ben Macpherson MSP, Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands represented the Scottish Government. Gordon Lyons MLA, Acting Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Diane Dodds MLA, Minister for the Economy represented the Northern Ireland Executive.
We discussed the UK Government’s Net Zero Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy, as well as the latest development on the UK ETS, including the auction reserve price.
There is a need for all four governments to work together and align policy if we are to reach our ambitious net zero targets. The engagement and co-operation of the IMG is a welcome step towards this collaboration.