Why does Wales matter to action for climate, nature and social justice?

Here are some key considerations for climate, nature and social justice folks outside of Wales to help understand why Wales matters beyond its borders and make a case for investing attention and resources into change-making in Wales:

A track record of inspiring the world

• Future Generations: Wales was the first nation in the world to legislate for sustainability goals with the cutting-edge Future Generations Act. The act has since been replicated by the UN which hosted the first Summit for the Future, where 143 countries voted in support of the historic “Pact for the Future” to roll out aspects of the groundbreaking legislation in countries all over the world.
• The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty: A key global initiative seeking to establish momentum has set its sights on Wales becoming the first developed nation to adopt the treaty. Climate Cymru is campaigning in Wales to bring this to fruition.  
• Declaring a climate emergency: Wales was the first nation in the world to formally declare a climate emergency, something that has now been replicated worldwide. 
• Race to Zero Cymru: An innovative programme developed by Climate Cymru & partners based around the global Race to Zero initiative to implement high-ambition, area-based net zero plans across all levels of society. It has led to all 14 of the UK national parks adopting Race to Zero and has been highlighted as an example of global best practice for joined-up and fair climate action planning.
• Wales Net Zero 2035 pathways: Commissioned by the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru, this set of reports comprehensively maps out high-ambition pathways to net zero. If adopted they would be trailblazing and the most ambitious plans of any nation. There is political buy-in, but with destabilising changes of leadership in Wales, the closure of the Tata Steel plant, and challenges with implementing 20mph default zones and environmental aspects of the sustainable farming schemes, the appetite for boldness has been undermined. Intervention is desperately needed to make these pathways politically compelling and publicly appealing if they are to make it into party manifestos for the 2026 elections.
  
• Clean energy: Wales already exports twice as much electricity as it uses, in European terms, no other nation comes close to that ratio. Wales is a potential renewable energy superpower, with a significant further pipeline of clean energy, and a potential 24 gigawatts of offshore wind in the Celtic Sea alone.
• UK following Wales’ lead: GB Energy was proceeded by the Welsh equivalent. Wales banned new oil, gas and coal licenses years before the UK. Single-use plastic bag charges originated in Wales and are now standard practice in many countries. Wales has the second-best recycling in the world and progress in the rest of the UK is replicating successful action in Wales. England’s onshore wind ban was never in place in Wales so years of social and implementation challenges offer insight to England’s onshore wind future.

Politics – Progressive and Perilous

• Ripe for the far right: Wales is the poorest home nation and is chronically underfunded. After a long history of extraction and a sequence of unjust industrial transitions, the current system has left communities across Wales behind. The far-right knows this and aims to use this as a means to gain power. Emboldened by a second Trump presidency, facilitated by significant funding from vested corporate interest and the ideology (and funds?) of the World’s richest man they have set their sights on Wales.  
• A springboard to the UK General Election:  Far-right parties have identified Wales as a key priority to establish legitimacy and a sense of possibility ahead of a General Election – a critical component to success in a first-past-the-post system. Polls for the Senedd 2026 elections have Reform UK polling equal with Welsh Labour. 
• A political incentive to deliver: Historically, Welsh Labour have been partially shielded from responsibility and public backlash of the failure to deliver by having a UK government of a different party. This was a common narrative in the Welsh Government’s political discourse but that dynamic has now changed. There is nowhere to hide – the UK and Welsh Governments are acutely aware that they need to deliver positive change that makes a difference to people’s lives. This political dynamic could be an opportunity to unlock ambitious solutions like energy efficiency in homes or used as a reason to ignore and deprioritise climate action. 
• Proportional representation & approaching elections: The 2026 elections will be the first with proportional representation and the most politically important and uncertain for decades. 
• Youth vote: Wales has changed the voting age from 18 to 16. A whole swathe of first-time voters are frustrated at the current political system and eager for change. Far-right narratives are resonating, particularly with young men. Across this same age group, there are high levels of climate anxiety and a high level of support for climate action. Which direction the youth vote goes is an open and important question.  
• Change: Around the world, electorates in recent few years have consistently voted for change. A ‘change vote’ in Wales could go to either high ambition climate and nature action or in a much more destructive direction. 
• Accessible politicians: Elsewhere, campaigners spend much of their time and resources attempting to get their message heard by a key decision-maker. In Wales, politicians are much more accessible, particularly through Climate Cymru with the weight and connections of hundreds of organisations as partners. We have regular, productive email exchanges with key decision-makers and meetings on key topics. Even Welsh MPs are more accessible to a Welsh movement, as they welcome (and rarely get) Wales-specific perspectives.
• The impact on future UK & other elections: Is the “Rise of the far right” all rhetoric, or a serious threat to UK society? Can a narrative of positive, climate-friendly change win elections? Will the UK parties have the confidence to be bold on climate, nature and social justice in future elections? Or will Wales be pointed to as an example of failure?

Chronically underfunded

• Civil society funding per person in Wales is less than a third of the per capita UK average. Data from 2015 highlighted that Welsh funding was only 45% of the per-capita UK average. Since then we have experienced the collapse of EU funding which hit Wales harder than elsewhere. Between 2014/20 Wales, as the poorest nation, received five times more EU funding than the UK average. We don’t have the latest data but given how reliant Welsh civil society was on EU funding, we feel we can confidently say that Welsh civil society now receives less than a third of the UK’s average funding per person – it may well be even less.  
  
• Enormous scope of work: Wales faces the same range of issues faced by the UK climate movement but with the added complexity of deciphering the devolved and reserved mandates and tracking both Wales and UK parliaments. With a portion of the UK’s population and an even lower portion of the funding, the scope of a single staff member in Welsh Civil society is enormous. That is daunting and often overwhelming, but also offers a unique opportunity to hone in on the absolute highest impact work. 
  
• Filling a vacuum, rather than muscling into a crowded room: A single dedicated climate policy advisor would be a total step change in policy capacity in Welsh civil society where there is no dedicated climate policy staff and unlock disproportionally large amounts of impact, particularly at the heart of the Climate Cymru network.
• The poorest home nation with a long history of extraction: Wales’ resources have made many people rich, but very few are Welsh so the philanthropy that exists elsewhere is hard to come by and general wealth that charities or grassroots groups in a well-to-do area might be able to lean on are harder to find.

Diversity, inclusivity and the Climate Cymru movement 

• The breadth of the movement offers a unique, exponential value: a single staff member, sitting at the centre of a web of many hundreds of organisations, has the potential to unlock disproportionately large public engagement and action.
• Diversity: There is a long-standing issue of lack of diversity in the climate movement. Climate Cymru has bucked that trend and actively includes partners, ambassadors and volunteers from all walks of life and backgrounds and has involved this diversity of voice in initiatives and all major decisions. An active Ethnic minority climate group with a seat at key decision-making tables and the active and inspiring Youth Climate Ambassadors play an active role in the Welsh Climate movement.
• Wales’s devolved context requires a Wales-specific climate movement: Almost all the key issues for climate & nature are devolved – transport, buildings, agriculture, education and most of the energy portfolio. UK-wide initiatives and mandates mean that many announcements, campaigns and activities are irrelevant to Wales. UK-wide organisations rarely modify their strategies based on the devolved context. A Wales-specific climate movement, relevant to the people of Wales, is critical for the buy-in of the Welsh public and is a mechanism to collaborate effectively with other home nations, UK-wide campaigns and organisations. Collated UK data gathered by the climate coalition shows a very high concentration of the “UK-wide” climate movement in southern England.