We’ve just seen a landmark moment for the environment in Wales – Inside track

It’s taken nearly eight years but, last night, Senedd Cymru finally agreed new laws to restore nature, put the environment at the heart of policy making and increase access to environmental justice in Wales. Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies described it as a “landmark moment” for nature in Wales.

This long journey to the statute book began in 2017 when the Greener UK coalition, convened by Green Alliance, highlighted the environmental governance gap that would emerge once the UK was no longer subject to the EU’s oversight and environmental laws. The Welsh government committed in March 2018 to close the gap, at “the first proper legislative opportunity”.

However, it began to feel like a Cinderella issue as other things were prioritised. This changed with a consultation in 2024 and confirmation in 2025 that a bill would be introduced to the Senedd in the final year of the Senedd term.

Despite the long delay, ambition remained high, with a bold promise that Wales would leapfrog other UK nations. A bill was introduced in June 2025, scrutinised by an expert committee and passed yesterday with cross party support. It was strengthened thanks to a collaborative spirit and input from experts on how environmental laws across the UK had evolved and were working.

Green Alliance and others gave expert help Given our expertise in environmental law and governance, Green Alliance was well placed to help. We worked with RSPB Cymru, WWF Cymru and Wales Environment Link, drawing on each other’s strengths, keeping up morale and momentum. Our evidence to the Senedd in July 2025 felt like a turning point. It pinpointed areas where most attention was needed to ensure new laws were futureproof and sufficiently ambitious.

The bill will embed environmental principles, such as the polluter must pay, in Welsh law and duties on Welsh ministers and public authorities to consider them in policy making. It will establish a new governance body – the Office of Environmental Governance Wales (OEGW) – to hold Welsh ministers and public authorities to account on compliance and recommend improvements to environmental laws. And it will create a framework for legal biodiversity targets, with duties to set them in priority areas and for Welsh ministers to meet them.

The Welsh environment is in a dire state New laws are sorely needed. The Welsh environment is in a dire state. Evidence from Natural Resources Wales shows nature across the country is under intense pressure, with ecosystems struggling to cope with the combined impacts of climate change, pollution, habitat loss and unsustainable land use. Almost one in five species in Wales now faces extinction and only 40 per cent of water bodies achieve good status. Wales is also currently using more than its fair share of global natural resources.

The bill will give people a right to make representations to the OEGW if they are concerned that environmental laws aren’t being followed. While there has been an interim arrangement since 2021, its lack of legal powers has meant a hiatus in potential environmental law breaking by public authorities being investigated, reported and remedied.

The new watchdog must be independent As with other new laws, the impact depends on how they are applied in practice. While the Senedd has set safeguards, it can’t completely bind the hands of future ministers.

An early priority in the next Senedd will be to consult on the policy statement to guide how environmental principles will inform Welsh policy making, to be published by 31 March 2027.

Creating a new public body from scratch is a major task, especially one that needs its independence insulated from the outset. As it must be in place two years after Royal Assent, the clock is ticking. While space must be left for it to set its own strategy and policies, groundwork is needed in the months ahead, including recruiting its first chair and chief executive.

There is also unfinished business to address. Bodies such as the Crown Estate fall outside the remit of both the OEGW and the Office for Environmental Protection. This should be rectified at the earliest opportunity. And, unlike counterpart bodies, the OEGW will not have an explicit power to apply for judicial review or intervene in environmental law cases brought by others. While Welsh government ministers are confident the body could use supplementary powers to do this, there are concerns that not having explicit power could affect the courts’ views on whether it should be able to.

Public concern over the state of the Welsh environment is high so the OEGW must hit the ground running. While work has already begun on the biodiversity targets, the ambition of the next Senedd must be steadfast if Wales is to finally shed its status as one of the most nature depleted countries in the world.