Wales Net Zero 2035 Group

Resetting the pace and ambition of systems change

Hiraeth n. (Welsh/Cymraeg) - is a word that does not translate well into English, the most personally meaningful interpretation of which is "a longing, homesickness and nostalgia for a place to which you cannot return".

Hiraeth encompasses two feelings I've been carrying for a while:

• A calling that there is (much) work and purpose for me to find at home, in Wales.

• A deep sense to not compromise on what ambition I know to be true to the cause, capable of creating the flourishing planet within my nostalgia.

Taking my first steps as an independent consultant, my first major project will be as Secretary of the Wales Net Zero 2035 Challenge Group Wales Centre for Public Policy | Canolfan Polisi Cyhoeddus Cymru, alongside the mighty chair Jane Davidson. This Group was called for by the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru as part of their 2021 Cooperation Agreement.

We will be exploring pathways for how Wales can reach 2035 (a massive 15 years earlier than current law), but in a way that meets the ambition of the Well-Being of Future Generations Act (2015) and therefore considering net zero in the broadest context of sustainable development (that i’ve ever seen) e.g. nature crises in tandem, just transition concerns, Wales’s global footprint, climate change adaptation & resilience (and on).

Watch this space for a February update when more detail becomes public!

Please contact: stan.townsend@wcpp.org.uk if you have a contribution to make.

Diolch