The Welsh government on Monday declared a climate emergency in hopes that doing so would “trigger a wave of action at home and internationally.”
The declaration comes a day after the Scottish first minister made a similar pronouncement.
“Tackling climate change is not an issue which can be left to individuals or to the free market,” Welsh environment minister Lesley Griffiths said in a statement. “It requires collective action and the government has a central role to making that collective action possible.”
“No nation in the world has yet fully grasped this challenge but just as Wales played a leading role in the first industrial revolution,” said Griffiths, “I believe Wales can provide an example to others of what it means to achieve environmental growth.”
“Our sustainable development and environmental legislation is already recognized as world-leading ,” she added, “and now we must use that legislation to set a new pace of change.”
The statement also “highlights the recent climate protests across the U.K.”
The Welsh declaration drew the attention of Swedish climate protester Greta Thunberg, who catalyzed the school climate strikes. “Activism works. So act,” she tweeted.
Others, like Shadow Minister for the Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew R.T. Davies, expressed skepticism.
“Only recently Labour’s environment minister set emissions targets that actually fell short of those demanded by the Paris Agreement,” said Davies, “so we await to see what action will be taken to ensure this isn’t just another empty pledge from a Welsh Labour government that has consistently failed to deliver on its promises during its twenty years in government.”
Climate mobilization Extinction Rebellion gave the announcement a tepid welcome.
“This has seen them start to #TellTheTruth about some of the climate and ecological crisis,” the group said. “They must now halt biodiversity loss, go net #ZeroCarbon2025, and create a #CitizensAssembly.”
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