How can Wales decarbonise faster?
This is a question that is being answered by an independent group that was commissioned by the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru in 2022. The group is made up of academics, business people, third sector and public sector employees and is looking at pathways to Net Zero Wales by 2035, fifteen years earlier than the current legal targets set by the Welsh Government. To do this, the group has split the work into 5 sub-sections:
1) How could Wales feed itself by 2035?
2) How could Wales meet energy needs by 2035 whilst phasing out fossil fuels?
3) How could Wales heat and build homes and workplaces by 2035?
4) How could people and places be connected across Wales by 2035?
5) What could education, jobs and work, look like across Wales by 2035?
Dr Jennifer Rudd (Swansea University) and Ben Rawlence (Black Mountains College) are co-chairing the fifth challenge, which concerns education, jobs and work. They have written a provocation statement to get people thinking about what education, jobs and work might look like in a Net Zero Wales, with possible suggestions such as climate change being a mandatory part of the curriculum, widening access to enable everyone to be part of the climate conversation and specific courses available from FE providers on sustainability, climate change, natural environment etc. You can read the provocation here.
We are all encouraged to read this and respond via the Group’s website.