Tirweddau Cymru Landscapes Wales is bringing the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and National Parks of Wales together to take action on climate change.
The Welsh Government has set out emissions reductions targets in The Environment (Wales) 2016 Act, and updated this in 2021 to include a legal commitment to reaching net zero territorial emissions by 2050[1].
Public bodies in Wales must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, and this includes the AONBs and National Parks, both as organisations and geographical areas. In order to show leadership on this, working together as Tirweddau Cymru Landscapes Wales (TCLW) they commissioned Small World Consulting (SWC) to produce greenhouse gas assessment reports for each of the designated landscapes and also an overarching summary report.
Chair of TCLW, Emyr Williams CEO of Eryri National Park Authority, said:
“The reports give us an evidence base, and recommendations for actions in each of our landscapes. This work is a great opportunity for us to further develop our vision of unlocking the potential of designated landscapes to deliver more for climate, as well as for nature and for people.
“We know this is challenging. This is the start of our journey to reduce our emissions and help prepare for the impacts of a changing climate. We will do this openly and with our partners, we can’t do this alone, and we must make sure that no one is left behind.”
Jessica Morgan, Head of Decarbonisation for Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, said:
“We have been working hard to reduce our carbon emissions and the recommendations in the SWC report give us a real focus on the steps needed to get us on the path to net zero. It’s important to remember that many sources of emissions in our landscapes will be outside of our control, including emissions from businesses, visitor travel, agriculture, and individual choices. This makes it even more important for us a landscape family to look at ways to work with all of our communities on this, those who live, work and travel to our landscapes.”
Dmitry Yumashev, Principal Consultant and Land Use Lead at SWC, said:
“While each of the Welsh designated landscapes has a unique set of characteristics, there are many common factors and themes that offer them opportunities to take action collectively and with their partners. These include cutting emissions from buildings and traffic, reducing the footprint of food and agriculture, embarking on nature restoration programmes, and engaging with visitors, residents and businesses to reduce their footprints. Welsh designated landscapes could become exemplars in dealing with climate change and biodiversity loss, inspiring other landscapes in Wales, across the UK and around the world to do the same.”
The synthesis report is a culmination of two years of work, and it has been presented to the designated landscapes before being published during Wales Climate Week 2023.