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Wales is facing a nature crisis.
One in six species is at risk of being lost from Wales. Only a fraction of our protected areas are in good condition, and less than half of our rivers have good ecological status.
The Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Bill, introduced to the Senedd on 2 June, could be a prime opportunity to reverse these trends.
The Bill has the potential to set Wales on a path towards a healthier environment, by introducing an independent body to ensure that environmental laws are applied effectively and by setting ambitious targets for nature recovery.
To realise the Bill’s potential, we are calling for parts of it to be made stronger and clearer. This includes:
• Strengthening the requirement that all policy making should not harm, but instead benefit the environment, with a duty to apply core environmental principles to all policy making in Wales.
• Ensuring that Wales’ new environmental watchdog is fully and visibly independent of the Welsh Government and clearly stating how people can challenge failures by public bodies to comply with environmental laws.
• Ensuring that biodiversity targets are brought forward quickly, to set both long term and interim goals so that successive Welsh Governments have to take action. The Bill should include a specific requirement for a target to reverse the decline in species abundance in the next ten years to make clear the urgency of stepping up action for nature.
Over three quarters of people in Wales believe that current and future governments should take more action to tackle the loss of nature*. If enough of us speak up now, we can let the Senedd know that nature cannot wait. Take action. Use our easy email template to let your MS know the changes you’d like to see to the Bill and ask them to call on the Deputy First Minister/Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs to ensure that these vital elements are addressed when the Environment Bill is passed into law.
*Survey carried out 3 - 23 March 2025 by Beaufort Research Limited. A total of 1,000 interviews were completed online, with the results being representative of the adult population (aged 16+) in Wales.
