Ruth Chambers argues that the new Office of Environmental Governance Wales could fill our environmental governance gap, but it must be given the legal duty and resources to ensure its independence and delivery.
In a world of political uncertainty, democratic checks and balances matter. As we approach the last four months of the Sixth Senedd, the legislation passing through it faces an uncertain future. Bills will be scrutinised by Senedd members hopeful that they will be part of the next government which has to take them forward, or by members who may not return to the Senedd but who are mindful of a positive legacy. An anxious civil society will play its part in this collective futureproofing.
The Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Bill is one of those pieces of legislation. It will plug much of the governance gap around environmental protection created by Brexit, setting up a new watchdog and building environmental principles into policy making. It will also set a new pathway to recover lost species and habitats, as Wales attempts to shed its sorry crown as one of the most nature depleted countries in the world.
It’s been a long grind to get to this point. The Welsh Government first promised a bill in 2018, when Julie James pledged “this Government will take the first proper legislative opportunity to enshrine the environmental principles into law and close the governance gap.” It’s fitting that she is now Counsel General and so will help to shepherd this bill over the finishing line before the last day of Senedd business.
It is essential that the OEGW’s independence from the Welsh Government is watertight, something which the bill currently fails to secure.
The bill’s general principles were approved last week by the Senedd. Members from the three largest parties – Labour, Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives – all voiced their support for the bill. The Deputy First Minister is responsible for this legislation; thankfully, he has been in listening mode. He has indicated that the government will bring forward amendments to strengthen the bill in many of the areas that Senedd scrutiny committees and stakeholders have suggested. This is encouraging but the small print will need careful monitoring to ensure promised improvements materialise.
While the bill has been consistently welcomed across the political spectrum, it was disappointing to see Laura Anne Jones from Reform vote against it last week. She was the only MS to do so. She gave no reasons for her decision as she did not speak in the debate. No information is available on Reform’s policies on the environment, an indication of the jeopardy that lies ahead as the political landscape in Wales looks set to be fundamentally rewritten after the May 2026 elections.
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The bill will lead to the creation of a new oversight body, the Office of Environmental Governance Wales (OEGW). Its role will be to hold Welsh Ministers and public authorities to account on their environmental obligations, regardless of which party controls them. At one end of the spectrum, it will be able to provide advice and publish reports on how well environmental laws are working. At the other, it will be able to enforce non-compliance of environmental laws, including in the High Court if needed, with contempt of court a hopeful deterrent to law breaking.
If it does its job well, it will inevitably be seen by some in the Welsh Government as an irritant or bringer of bad news. Experience from across the globe highlights the increasing vulnerability of accountability bodies. It is essential that the OEGW’s independence from the Welsh Government is watertight, something which the bill currently fails to secure. Welsh ministers must be given a legal duty to protect the body’s independence and to ensure that it is given enough resources to do its job; starving bodies like this of resources is a tactic used by some governments to run down their functionality.
The Welsh Government has indicated it will speed up the timescale to set targets, but action must be urgently galvanised and designed to endure over the course of successive Senedd terms.
Another way to exert control over the direction and culture of public bodies is through board appointments. Welsh ministers have committed to involve an independent person and a Member of the Senedd in the interview panel for the chair and board members of the body. But ministers will retain full responsibility for deciding the board members. This must be rethought as public body appointments can be susceptible to cronyism and bad faith decisions, as highlighted by the recent scandal around the appointment of a party political donor as the football regulator.
The OEGW will need evidence and cases to allow it to focus action where it is most needed. At present the bill is far too tentative on how this would work, with apologetic wording likely to inspire confusion rather than engagement. Welsh citizens’ rights to access to environmental justice have been squeezed since Brexit. With environmental concerns rising, it’s clear this body will be called into action to identify weak laws and reverse the inaction blighting communities across Wales. Setting a clear process for people to make representations will be an important step towards righting some of those wrongs, enabling people to take their concerns straight to the new body.
The bill will lead to new nature targets, which must contribute to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, but there is a risk of these being ‘too little, too late.’ The Welsh Government has indicated it will speed up the timescale to set targets, but action must be urgently galvanised and designed to endure over the course of successive Senedd terms. Beyond reversing decline, sights must be fixed on nature’s recovery in the coming decades, in line with global commitments.
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The OEGW’s success depends on it being clear on its role and remit. Its draft purpose resembles a rambling essay rather than a crisp legal objective. Many stakeholders – including the Senedd Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee and the interim environmental protection assessor for Wales – have called for the purpose to be simplified to what the new body should focus on: environmental law and improvement.
Implementation of almost all the measures in the bill will fall to the next government. The timetable must be set in stone so the aimless drift that has beset this process to date does not define it going forward.
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