Plaid Cymru drops 2035 net zero target for Wales

Rhun ap Iorwerth has abandoned his party’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions in Wales by 2035, describing the target as no longer achievable.

The original pledge

Plaid Cymru first committed to the 2035 net zero goal as part of its co-operation agreement with the Welsh Government in 2021, when Adam Price was leading the party. A study commissioned at the time concluded it would require a “significant step change in ambition from the Welsh government, support from the UK government and a greater societal mandate for change.”

The target was then reaffirmed in the party’s 2024 general election manifesto – the first under ap Iorwerth’s leadership – which acknowledged that “the climate and nature emergencies are the biggest threat to mankind on a global scale.”

The U-turn 🔄

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Thursday, ap Iorwerth said: “I think most people now can see that 2035 isn’t realistic.

“We are very, very close. Time rolls by, and we have to take a pragmatic look at that.

“I think everything points to needing to be a point in the future where we need to keep an eye on the prize.”

While the UK Government’s current target is net zero by 2050, ap Iorwerth insisted Wales could move faster, saying he believed “we can aim for quicker than 2050, absolutely.”

Energy infrastructure row

The announcement comes alongside ongoing debate over how Wales builds its green energy network. Labour has criticised Plaid for “repeatedly” opposing infrastructure such as pylons.

Plaid has pledged that if it wins the Senedd election in May, it would establish a “strong presumption in favour of undergrounding” and ban steel pylons for any line of 132 kilovolt or below, favouring wooden poles where necessary.

Ap Iorwerth acknowledged there were “expense issues” with undergrounding and conceded that in “some places you will have to have pylons.”

He added: “There are currently connections being made across large parts of rural Wales, where I think it could be a mix of both, partly undergrounding, using cheaper options… where that’s geographically possible, and having single poles rather than steel lattice cables elsewhere.”

Labour’s response ⚡

A Welsh Labour spokesperson was quick to respond: “There we have it – Plaid Cymru’s leader admitting their net-zero plans are unrealistic and their plans for green energy infrastructure will have ‘expense issues’.”