Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 2:41 pm on 15 May 2024.
Delyth Jewell
Plaid Cymru
2:41,
15 May 2024
Thank you, Llywydd. I'd like to ask you about global mapping trends in terms of climate change, please, and how that impacts on our work here in Wales. There is now a consensus amongst some of the most prominent climate scientists that the world is on a very damaging course. Global temperatures will rise by at least 2.5 degrees C, and with that, there will be more floods, fires, heating and storms—a nightmarish scenario.
So, first, what impact will this have on Wales? But also, at the same time, there is another crisis when it comes to communicating that challenge. Westminster politics increasingly downplays the importance of reaching net zero. The Conservatives, of course, have led on this in Westminster, but Labour on a UK level are retreating from the ambition that we need to see. So, what effect is that distance or that gap between what needs to happen as a matter of urgency, and the way that Westminster politicians discuss these issues—? What impact is that having on public confidence, and on that feeling of perseverance?
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
The Conservatives are a centre-right political party in the UK, founded in the 1830s. They are also known as the Tory party.
With a lower-case ‘c’, ‘conservative’ is an adjective which implies a dislike of change, and a preference for traditional values.
