In September, staff and members of our Stand for Nature Cardiff group attended the Act Now Change Forever event calling for Members of the Senedd to listen to Welsh communities. We hosted a stand asking members of the public what they want the next Senedd to focus on after election. This sparked many discussions and got people from primary school aged to long-standing members of the Senedd thinking deeply about what nature means to them. The day consisted of youth members speaking to MSs, talking to the public and attending panel discussions. One panel discussion on the new Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Bill was particularly interesting.

The proposed Environment Bill aims to fill a gap left after Brexit of an independent body that ensures environmental law is being followed. Previously, it was possible to complain free of charge to the European Commission if people felt their government and it's public bodies were not doing enough to protect nature. For example, in 2017 the UK Government was made to act on sewage being dumped in the sea in Carmarthenshire. After leaving the EU, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland created their own independent bodies but Wales is yet to make this happen. 

The bill will be discussed in the Senedd on the 11th of November. If nature means something to you, reach out to your MS today and ask them to attend the discussion and to push for this Bill to be a strong one. As this is a bill that will affect the whole of Wales we reccommend contacting you regional MSs as well as your constituency MS. You can find out who these are using this link. 

This bill is exciting and if passed before the next Senedd Election in May could have a real impact on Welsh wildlife and people: 

• The Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales will have to take nature into account when making policies.
• It will set up a new independent organisation called the Office of
  Environmental Governance Wales (OEGW) to make sure environmental law is being followed properly. Anyone will be able to complain to this new office if they feel environmental law is being broken.
• It will set out how targets for protecting and restoring nature must be set, and how progress towards them will be monitored.
• It will require the Welsh Government to make plans showing how they will meet the targets.
• It also requires the Government to help more people understand the importance of nature.

In it's current version however, the bill is vague and contains loop holes which could allow for nature to suffer: 

• The bill currently states that ‘relevant’ policies must take nature into account. This could be changed to 'all' policies to ensure nature is always considered.
• The bill does not state how the new Office of Environmental Governance Wales will remain independent.  
• It lacks detail on how members of the public will be able to speak up for nature if they don’t think environmental law is being followed.
• It isn’t urgent enough on the need to reverse species decline.
• It doesn’t require short-term targets for halting nature loss: this means that the government that inherits this bill next May could sit on it for years. 

Our Stand for Nature youth group had a brilliant day meeting like-minded people and learning more about the proposed Environment Bill. They will be contacting their MSs who were not present on the day to share what nature means to them and ask them to show up for nature by attending the discussion of the new Environment Bill on the 11th of November. You can do the same today by using WriteToThem.com. 

Thank you to our friends at Green Squirrel for their resources on the Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Bill.