The Welsh Assembly Government is to request new powers from Parliament in a bid to help the environment. Recent provisions mean the Assembly can request the transfer of powers bit by bit, allowing them to draw up laws, known as Assembly measures. The bid will enable them to draw up rules to combat graffiti, littering and fly-tipping as well as setting higher targets for the amount of household recycling. The move has been welcomed by some environmental campaigners, although others have suggested the new measures do not go far enough to tackle climate change.
The proposal was outlined in a statement to Assembly Ministers by sustainability minister Jane Davidson who said, "Highly visible nuisances such as litter and graffiti that people face every day can have a significant negative impact on their quality of life. Solving these issues is often at the heart of encouraging people to engage more widely in environmental issues, such as addressing climate change and increasing recycling."
Tegryn Jones of Keep Wales Tidy, welcomed the Assembly's request for additional powers but warned they may not be enough to combat every environmental issue. "The Assembly Government has made quite bold statements in the past about wanting to deal with plastic bags, for example, but hasn't had the powers. While this may not give them the exact powers they need, it certainly goes a step." Similar responses were made by Friends of the Earth Cymru, who offered praise for increasing domestic recycling from around 4% to 25%, but said the proposed target of 40% by 2010 did not go far enough. They also wanted to see new measures to tackle the policy on power generation, which accounts for a third of Wales' carbon dioxide emissions - the main greenhouse gas.
