Cross Party Group on Climate, Nature and Wellbeing
Grŵp Trawsbleidiol ar Hinsawdd, Natur a Lles
17:00 – 18:00
30.09.2024
Virtual Meeting over Zoom
Cyfarfod ar-lein dros Zoom
1. Croeso a chyflwyniad
Welcome and introduction
Delyth Jewell AS/MS
2. Cofnodion y cyfarfod diwethaf
Minutes of the last meeting Delyth Jewell AS/MS
3. Llysgenhadon Hinsawdd Ieuenctid Cymru
Youth Climate Ambassadors for Wales
Emily Darney
4. Update from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and general discussion
Diweddariad gan Goleg Brenhinol y Seiciatryddion a thrafodaeth gyffredinol
Oliver John
5. Busnes arall
Any other business
Delyth Jewell AS/MS
Attendees: Annie Fabian (AF), Oliver John (OJ), Molly Hucker (MH), Dr Charanpreet Singh (CS), Gwenda Owen (GO), Emily Darney (ED), Jac Davies (JD), Delun Gibby (DG), Michi Rohrmann (MR), Erin Owain (EO), Arthur Wacker (AW), Laura Haig (LH)
MSs in attendance:Delyth Jewell MS (DJ)
Minutes:
1. Croeso a chyflwyniad / Welcome and introduction - Delyth Jewell AS/MS
DJ welcomed the group and outlined the purpose of the meetings. Gustavo who was originally scheduled to present was unable to attend so this agenda item was changed to an update from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a general discussion.
CS introduced themselves
2. Cofnodion y cyfarfod diwethaf / Minutes of the last meeting - Delyth Jewell AS/MS
The minutes of the last meeting approved were approved with no matters raised.
DJ outlined the importance of hearing youth voices in these meetings and opened the floor to the YCA.
3. Llysgenhadon Hinsawdd Ieuenctid Cymru / Youth Climate Ambassadors for Wales - Emily Darney
ED gave an overview of the Youth Climate Ambassadors for Wales who are a group of 13-25 year olds from across Wales centered around amplifying youth voices in the climate change sector.
They will be hosting fashion show and clothing swap in Cardiff on the 13th November at 1pm. This event includes stalls from different organisations and is hosted in partnership with the Youth Peace Ambassadors. The poster for this will be circulated alongside the minutes of the meeting.
DJ mentioned having hosted and event in the Senedd on sustainable fashion last week which included repair cafes and Oxfam.
LH introduced herself as being from eco-schools and working in environmental education.
DJ open the conversation to any other youth updates and ideas for areas of focus for future meetings.
4. Update from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and general discussion / Diweddariad gan Goleg Brenhinol y Seiciatryddion a thrafodaeth gyffredinol - Oliver John
OJ gave an update on the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) in Wales. The RCPsych International congress will be hosted in Newport at the end of June and RCPsych Wales are conscious of the environmental impact of hosting such a large event with attendees travelling from outside of Wales and internationally.
The event will bring a significant local spend and learning opportunities.
The RCPsych are taking steps to make it environmentally friendly. This event is not Welsh Government sponsored so it is not subject to the government strategy on bringing international events to Wales but the RCPsych are looking at this. The document seems light on environmentally friendly guidance, particularly when looking at how to report and measure the sustainability of event.
OJ asked the group for thoughts on how to sustainably bring cultural events to Wales and queried what the scrutiny from Welsh Government is like on this.
DJ said that lot of what we talk about in climate is the need to be better connected; in order to do this we can be connected virtually which has a smaller carbon footprint but there are events where it is necessary or it brings something more to have people in the same room.
Welsh Government are trying to bring more international events to Wales which does have a carbon footprint. This should be looked at as part of the decision on how to engage with these events.
DJ added that if we’re going to tackle the climate emergency we need to challenge the way we do things, however this can cause something to be lost.
GO raised the topic of transport, adding that there can be things to be done to mitigate the impact of transport during events. She would be keen to talk about active sustainable transport campaigning for young people in future meetings, adding that it is important to give people transport information for events, such as cycle routes, so they can make more sustainable travel choices. This is something which event organisers can look at.
DJ said that there often isn’t a replacement for meeting face to face but we should find ways of starting to mitigate this tension, this would be a good topic for a future meeting.
LH mentioned that at Keep Wales Tidy they have gone through changes in their event policy on sustainability, such as only serving vegetarian or vegan food, and looking at the building spaces which are used and their environmental ratings.
MH commented in the chat: Gwenda you've reminded me of a chapter by Dr Caroline Criado Perez- called 'can snow clearing be sexist'. It looks at bias by planners and links with public transport.
MH added that the research looked at a city with very cold climate where the planning department was researching which routes to grit. They found that most men tended to travel by car and women tended to travel by footpath to drop children to schools. Gritters mainly gritted the routes travelled by cars, highlighting a bias towards the commuter routes generally travelled by men.
GO said that cycle paths also tend to follow traditional commuting routes and miss the link journeys traditionally taken more by women, such as the routes for school drop offs.
DJ recently had a legislative proposal in the Senedd about safety on public transport, starting out trying to ensure that women feel safer on trains and busses after dark and exploring the need for an obligation on public transport providers to get vulnerable people to a place of safety after dark, for example ensuring that they are safe when services are cancelled.
DJ met with Guide Dogs Cymru who highlighted that the way public spaces are designed is based around an assumption that people are able bodied, use cars, or take commuter routes. The way in which public spaces are designed entrenches inequalities. E.g. when a bus stop is closed written signs are put up saying where the next bus stop is making this inaccessible to blind people or those who cannot read.
OJ thanked the group for their perspectives. He raised that a few weeks ago the band Massive Attack played a gig in Bristol. They have been prominent in campaigning on environmental issues and have turned their attention to music industry with the aspiration to host the lowest carbon concert of its kind, intending to create a blueprint for live shows. A lot of this work was around incentivising people to use public transport while also looking at the event space, surplus food, batteries, generators, sustainability of venue etc. They have published roadmap on a low carbon blueprint for live music.
OJ spoke to A Greener Future organisers and suggested inviting them to the next meeting of the Cross Party Group to try to understand what event organisers considered when organizing a large event. A Greener Future also looked at what events could do to provide for future shows, such as planting trees, and looking at what is left behind after an event.
DJ said that there seems to be a theme of democratizing spaces and how to bring people together in these spaces without having as many detrimental effects.
CS has written a book chapter about eWaste recycling in environmental sustainability, looking at electronic waste recycling and sustainability across different countries. Also looking at the future forecasting of electronic waste and highlighting the environmental risk of electronic waste and how this can be mitigated through good eWaste recycling.
This chapter is to be circulated with the group.
5. Busnes arall / Any other business - Delyth Jewell AS/MS
DJ if anyone has further thoughts about the focus of future meetings please do let us know.
There was no other business.
The date of the next meeting was set for the 13th January 2025, 5-6pm.