At this point in time, the UK has not fully entered a Covid-19 recovery phase and the consequences of Brexit are being worked through. It is important to acknowledge that some indicators and research show disruptions, due to Covid-19 especially, which makes planning at a time of uncertainty particularly challenging. We will review our analyses to ensure they reflect current and future trends as and when new or more reliable information becomes available.

‘A resilient Wales’ is about building healthy functioning ecosystems which support social, economic and ecological resilience. To secure this resilience, we need to focus on building healthy, regenerating systems.  Wales cannot work towards healthy places for people without resilient ecosystems and cannot make our ecosystems resilient without safeguarding stocks of natural resources.

Climate and ecological change is the globally defining challenge of our time. It impacts all living things. The rise in global temperature is causing our climate and our planet to change. The impacts of climate change are hotter drier summers, warmer wetter winters, more extreme weather events and sea level rises. The consequences of climate change are far reaching and cause more drought and wildfire, stronger storms, more heat waves, flooding, damaged corals, less snow and ice and the thawing of the permafrost; changes in plant life cycles and changes to animal migration and life cycles. The effects are disproportionately affecting the world’s poorest communities, but here in Conwy and Denbighshire, some of the communities most at risk are also at risk of other factors that negatively affect well-being.

Overall, biodiversity loss is continuing, despite substantial ongoing efforts for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. While there has been significant progress towards most of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, none has been fully achieved. While current conservation and management actions are having positive impacts, their effects are overwhelmed by the growing pressures on biodiversity, our green spaces and agricultural land which, in turn, are related to increased levels of consumption of food and associated food wastage, energy, and materials used in consumed good that are non-renewable and to the development of infrastructure. Consequently, we are not on track to achieve most of the current globally agreed targets for biodiversity. [1]

The regenerative economy, which minimises and reuses our resources, safeguards and restores those stocks and is the route to the transformational change needed to achieve Sustainable Management of our Natural Resources (SMNR). None of these aims are met in Wales, so by default we can say they have not been met in Conwy County Borough and Denbighshire County Council.

The Welsh Government declared a Climate Emergency on 29 April 2019 and on 1 May 2019 the Climate Emergency declaration motion was passed by the National Assembly. Conwy County Borough Council and Denbighshire County Council both declared a climate emergency in May and July 2019, respectively. On 30^th June 2021 The Senedd declared a nature emergency and called for Welsh Government for statutory targets to be set to halt and reverse the decline in biodiversity.

Healthy places (eco-systems and communities)

Nature recovery is key to rebuilding ecological resilience and sustaining the benefits that it provides us. The rebuilding needs to be done at a faster pace and larger scale if we are to reduce the potential impacts of these two emergencies.

The rise in global temperatures is impacting on the world’s ecology. This is made worse by the loss of habitat quality and quantity through the use of unsustainable land management activities such as deforestation and the use of pesticides.

The risks of climate change and biodiversity loss increasingly effect people’s health and well-being. Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events including heatwaves, drought and severe storms, and is modifying the transmission of infectious diseases.

Much of Wales is projected to be less impacted by drought and heatwaves compared to much of southern England, making Wales better placed to adapt to this change. However, the high rainfall and steep-sided valleys across much of Wales will exacerbate the risks associated with heavy rainfall events. Climate change is already having a substantial effect on Welsh biodiversity and ecosystems, such as loss of inter-tidal habitats due to sea-level rise.

Most habitat types have seen a reduction in diversity over the last 100 years, with the rate of decline increasing from the 1970s onwards.  This indicates that ecosystems are not resilient, and many species are not recovering. If diversity continues to be lost, then it may result in the collapse of ecosystems and the services they provide.[2] There has been a reported 52% decline in global wildlife populations between 1970 and 2010. UK species at risk include the dormouse, red squirrel, water vole, as well as many birds and butterflies.

Achieving Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (SMNR) means having healthy, well-functioning and resilient social, economic and eco-systems. Wales cannot work towards healthy places for people without resilient ecosystems and cannot make our ecosystems resilient without safeguarding stocks of natural resources. Resilient ecosystems are defined as those which are diverse, connected, big in scale and extent, in a healthy condition and adaptable and thus not only maintains biodiversity but enhances it. The regenerative economy safeguards and restores those stocks and is the route to the transformational change needed to achieve SMNR. None of these aims are met in Wales, so by default we can say they have not been met in Conwy County Borough and Denbighshire.

We need a resilient environment that can respond to pressures by resisting, recovering or adapting to change; and is able to continue to provide natural resources and benefits to people. The well-being of humans (particularly those in the poorest parts of the world) around the planet is threatened by an ecological and environmental breakdown. Time is running out to respond to this crisis and avoid a catastrophic situation for Wales and the world. Building the resilience of ecosystems must form the basis of a swift and immediate response. There are eight broad ecosystems and many of these have a role to play in our wider well-being:

• Coastal margins
• Enclosed farmland
• Freshwater
• Marine
• Mountains
• Moorlands and heaths
• Semi-natural grasslands
• Urban
• Woodlands

Human health depends on these ecosystem services. They include food and fresh water; regulation of climate, floods and disease; opportunities for physical activity; for living, learning, working and playing and for aesthetic and cultural enrichment.

The management of our natural environments requires investment in the context of increasingly squeezed public sector finances. The protection of the natural environment is also a key challenge for the rural economy because of the role played by farmers and other landowners in environmental management. There are a number of pressures impacting natural resources. Namely: climate change; invasive non-native species, pests and diseases; land use change; over-exploitation and pollution.

With rising temperatures, reducing rainfall forecast due to climate change and increase in population density in certain areas also puts challenges on the ready access of water. Consideration around sustainable use of water for domestic, agricultural and commercial/industrial sectors of the two areas will be a rising challenge.

Designated sites provide protection for nationally important habitats and refuges for many species. However, such sites are becoming increasingly fragmented and less resilient. The majority of the protected sites are in unfavourable condition which means, although still of immense ecological value, the condition of these sites are still below standard.

According to the Tree cover in Wales’ Towns and Cities update report 2020, Denbighshire and Conwy are the 2 out of 5 counties across Wales with the lowest percentage of urban tree cover in 2019 and associated with the coastal belt.[3]

Energy system

The global energy system is one of the main drivers of the climate emergency. Wales’s current energy production and consumption creates many pressures for ecosystems and public health here and across the planet. Wales needs to increase its use of renewable and sustainable energy sources, reducing the current dependence on harmful fossil fuels. Resilient communities are those able to successfully adapt to change. The two areas have inescapable responsibilities for meeting carbon reduction and recycling targets for the protection of the local environment and the wider world.

In 2019 the UK Government amended the Climate Change Act (2008) to commit the UK to achieving net zero by 2050, compared to the previous target of an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050. The UK Government is required to set carbon budgets under the Climate Change Act 2008. They are legally binding and are intended to act as stepping stones towards the net zero target in 2050. The UK’s carbon budgets place a restriction on the total amount of greenhouse gases the UK can emit over a five-year period. In 2021, the UK Government put into law to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels as part of its sixth carbon budget.  In March 2021, Senedd Cymru approved a net zero target for 2050. Net zero means balancing the greenhouse gas emissions with the amount of gases we’re removing from the atmosphere. Wales also has interim targets for 2030 and 2040, and a series of 5-year carbon budgets. The target for 2030 is a 63% reduction in carbon emissions, increasing to 89% by 2040 and meeting at least 100% reduction by 2050.[4] These are very challenging targets for reducing carbon emissions and apply to domestic, commercial and public sector bodies.

The global energy system is one of the main drivers of the climate emergency. Wales’s current energy production and consumption creates many pressures for the climate, ecosystems and public health here and across the planet. Wales needs to reduce its consumption of energy overall, and for the energy that is used to increase its use of renewable and sustainable energy sources, reducing the current dependence on harmful fossil fuels and increasing energy supply security.

Wales needs to increase its use of renewable and sustainable energy sources, reducing the current dependence on harmful fossil fuels. Installed electrical capacity and installed heat capacity from renewable energy both increased by 5% respectively in Wales. The amount of renewable electricity generated is approximately half (51%) of electricity consumed in Wales.

The scale of the challenge for householders is great. Rising gas and electricity prices, inefficient housing stock, existing fuel poverty and particular challenges in rural areas which are not on gas network, leaves some doubt as to the resilience of householders – of all tenures – in the future.

Our national and international response to global fuel challenges remains uncertain and may not necessarily result in less reliance on fossil fuels, with fracking for example, still under consideration.

Climate risk resilience

As well as efforts to prevent and reduce environmental damage, adaptation to climate change is already a pressing issue. There is still more to do to make sure that there are healthy places for people, protected from environmental risk across the areas. Resilient communities are those able to successfully adapt to change, including the impact from changing climate that is already being felt in the two areas and will increasingly do so even with abated emissions.

Increasing the resilience of our ecosystems not only prevent and reduce environmental damage but can support the adaptation needed to reduce the impacts of climate change   Ensuring communities are resilient in the face of extreme weather events, notably flooding, is a major challenge. Sea level is expected to rise by 1.1 metre over the next century, and every year floods cost around £200 million to the Welsh economy.  Economic and insured losses resulting from extreme weather events present a major threat to global resilience.[5]

General climate change projections show an increased likelihood of more frequent and intense rainfall. It is expected that severe events such as the 2020 storms will become more common with increased severity and frequency of flooding of homes, communities and businesses. At the same time, coastal flooding is a growing threat due to accelerating mean sea-level rise and increases in storminess and wave heights. This will exacerbate the exposure of the coast to flooding and coastal erosion; and will increase the risk to the coastal assets and the costs to maintain them to acceptable standards.

These climate change associated impacts will increase the number of properties, infrastructure and key services at risk of flooding from all sources. Places not previously at risk could become vulnerable and many currently at risk could be of greater risk. The population at risk of exposure to flooding is expected to increase as a result of changes in land-use, urbanisation and development in low-lying areas.

Some of the communities most at risk of being affected by flooding are also likely to experience other challenges to their well-being over the next decade or so (see our summary for the ‘More equal’ well-being goal summary). This is particularly the case in more deprived communities where we can see stark differences in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy between communities. Evidence shows that low-income areas suffer not only from issues associated with poor housing, lower educational attainment and poor diet, but also less access to good quality green and blue space, all of which contribute to poor health.

Local Partnerships surveyed local authorities in the UK in 2020 to 21 to assess levels of preparedness for a changing climate. Around half the respondents are already taking some actions, principally for flooding. However, the research suggested a lack of funds is a significant constraint. The need for adaptation cuts across many public services and should be a part of all investment decisions, not just confined to flood mitigation in the local plan.[6]

Data in assessing the climate risk resilience of our communities in both areas is not available at this time and action has been limited to date to the creation of community flood plans some of our communities at risk.

The “Inequality in a Future Wales” report states:[7]

“The poorest and most marginalised populations are least responsible for climate change but are a) the most likely to be exposed to its negative effects b) more susceptible to damage and c) have the least resources to respond, cope and recover. Climate change mitigation could benefit marginalised communities if done well but could increase inequalities if the impacts on different groups in society are not factored in. It is important that climate change does not become separated from equalities thinking and understanding, or limited to decarbonisation when it is just one part of achieving sustainability and well-being for people and planet. The broad portfolio of the new Climate Change Ministry is therefore welcomed as an important opportunity for integration.”

Food

According to WWF Cymru, Wales urgently needs to create an integrated, sustainable and just food system fit for future generations.[8] How to deliver healthy, nutritious food for all in the face of shrinking resources and a growing population, while addressing climate change and nature loss, is a major challenge globally, including in Wales. A sustainable food system is crucial to our nation’s future. It’s central to our health and wellbeing, our culture, society and economy and an important part of addressing the climate and nature crises we now face.

There are, however, systemic problems within the food system in Wales that urgently need addressing. Many people in Wales cannot afford access to a healthy diet. The food system has negative impacts on the environment, public health and economic well-being. This hinders our ability to prosper as a nation both now and in the future. [9]

The global food system has a significant impact on the environment. Land use is identified by the UN IPBES report (2019) as one of the big drivers of the nature emergency. Emissions of pollutants, depletion of resources, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation are consequences of the current system in Wales and beyond. Climate change is expected to have impacts on all four pillars of food security – food availability, access to food, food utilisation and stability of the food supply (see our ‘agriculture’ topic for further information).[10] There are also likely to be food pricing fluctuations that will affect businesses and consumers.

The Wales Centre for Public Policy expects Brexit to have varying impacts on different aspects of the agricultural and food sector, which means its effects will be felt differently across different areas of Wales. For example, sheep production is likely to become less economically viable, due to changes in market access and public funding restrictions. Some researchers argue that land currently used for sheep farming in Wales will most likely be converted into forest.[11] These changes will have consequences for our agriculture, our farming community, our environment and potentially for cultural well-being, as food related-events are increasingly connected to local food production.

Regenerative economy

We need an economy that regenerates ecosystems and replenishes natural resources. Such an economy would contribute to ensuring that Wales only uses its fair share of the Earth’s resources and meets the well-being goal of A Globally Responsible Wales. Over-consumption of natural resources is putting a strain on ecosystems in Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Wales and world-wide.

The most widely used and authoritative green economy definition comes from the United Nations Environment Programme.

“[A] green economy [is] one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities”[12]

This describes a highly connective, and regenerative economy that achieves growth but not at the expense of the well-being of the planet or the communities it is home to. Skills, technology, energy, construction, a circular (reduce, reuse, recycle) economy, enterprise, community well-being are all critical to a green economy, and these are discussed within this goal summary and across the other six well-being goal summaries.

Welsh Government’s new strategy for creating a circular economy aims to keeps resources and materials in use for as long as possible and avoid all waste. There are a number of key aims and some ambitious targets. Waste reduction and recycling is a strength in both local authority areas, compared to other parts of Wales; with an improving trend in terms of the percentage of waste that was reused, composted or recycled over the last decade and more. Nevertheless, this remains a challenge and may require significant investment to meet the European target of 70% by 2025. [13]

Technology and transport

Adaptation to climate change also brings with it economic opportunities and challenges through the development of new technology. The development of renewable energy production and the digital revolution (accelerated as a result of the ‘stay home’ policy during the Covid-19 pandemic), which can reduce the need to travel, are already contributing to a more sustainable future for Conwy County Borough and Denbighshire, with much scope for further extension.

The transport system has an impact on ecosystems and health. Transport contributes to carbon emissions, air and water pollution, noise pollution and the social and economic effects of congestion or lack of transport opportunities.

Although considered to be a transient effect, it is possible that some behavioural changes as a result of social distancing, e.g. reduced travel, associated with positive environmental impacts could persist into the medium- or long-term (e.g. increased homeworking) but others may have a more negative impact (e.g. the avoidance of public transport and car sharing). Over the longer term, people will look for more sophisticated online/virtual reality experiences from across the globe, especially as we all adapt to the consequences of climate change and our motivation to reduce individual carbon footprints.

Brexit has also posed a number of environmental challenges, including transferring environmental protection to UK legislation and coordination challenges between the UK and devolved governments.[14]

Technological change also presents both challenges and opportunities for community resilience.  Increasing use of digital technology could reduce reliance on transport and help to cut carbon emissions.  Greater flexible and home working could mean that villages and small town benefits from a more vibrant day time community than has been the case in recent years.  At the same time technology brings with it the threat of social isolation, cyber –bullying and other risk factors, and could potentially affect house prices as people can increasingly work from home. The potential for uneven adoption of new technologies also raises the possibility of a deepening digital divide.

Demography

A major challenge for communities will be adapting to a new age profile brought about by demographic change.  Increasing numbers of older people and the continued outmigration of young people continue to be the expected trends.  It is increasingly likely that these changes will result in increasing reliance on unpaid care drawn from within the older population itself.  Pressure on the NHS and social care’s ability to deliver services to meet the rising demand will mean that communities will have to be increasingly self-reliant in order to remain resilient.  Please see our ‘Healthier‘ well-being goal for more information.

What people have told us

People have told us their concerns about the implications of climate change and have expressed their desire to be more supported and empowered to tackle climate change locally. This was a common area of unease throughout our engagement. Communities and local businesses want to be more involved in protecting and respecting the environment but feel they need the right resources.

There is appreciation for local farming and food businesses, and these are seen as essential for communities to remain resilient. There is enthusiasm to see these sectors grow and employ more people by involving communities, retaining local spend and supporting climate change by utilising local sources

People want to see a proactive approach to planning and support to prevent localised flooding within villages and towns rather than communities having to take a reactive approach when faced with these issues. There was mention of considerations to emergency planning preparedness on where we should site hospitals, care homes, schools, industry and residential areas in light of flooding risks. They stressed the importance of ensuring we can connect to these important areas and facilities in times of flooding.

People have told us the importance of having access to local green and blue spaces that are safe and clean as these are felt to be a core part of our counties’ identities. They want to see increased environmental action and welcome increased biodiversity, conservation and nature protection within local green spaces, AONBs and communities. There have been concerns around litter issues throughout the counties. As well as increasing the amount of bins, specifically those split into general and recycling waste within rural areas, people also wanted to see more education and reminders given to communities to encourage people to be responsible with their waste.

People said that whilst there is great demand for housing, what some called a ‘housing crisis’, people want to see a cautious approach taken to building on green spaces if there are other alternatives. The motivation behind these comments comes from an environmental perspective as people appreciate the green land and biodiversity this brings. People want to see increased environmental action and welcome increased biodiversity within local green spaces and communities.

Local priorities identified within Area Statements developed by Natural Resources Wales with communities, have identified the following opportunities:

• Maintain and/or restore semi improved grassland and unimproved grassland
• Maintain iconic species such as curlew, black grouse, hen Harrier and Atlantic salmon
• Manage invasive non-native species
• Urban tree canopy is improved and maintained
• Create more woodland and increase woodland cover, create small woods and Woodland close to population
• Tackle water pollution undertaking whole catchment management
• Management of roadside verges to increase and support biodiversity
• Diversity in agriculture including field boundaries
• Accessibility of greenspace local to population, especially deprived communities
• Accessibility of green spaces to schools
• Measures to promote a reduction in food miles
• Community growing schemes
• Provision of local needs close to communities
• Promote a circular economy where we see waste as a resource
• Repair Cafes, “libraries of stuff”, which will keep materials in circulation for longer

National priorities

Wales’ Programme for Government consists of almost 100 specific areas of activity. Among its ten well-being objectives are commitments to:

• Build an economy based on the principles of fair work, sustainability and the industries and services of the future.
• Build a stronger, greener economy as we make maximum progress towards decarbonisation.
• Make our cities, towns and villages even better places in which to live and work. Embed our response to the climate and nature emergency in everything we do.

Pledges include:

1. Build 20,000 new low carbon social homes for rent.
2. Create a new system of farm support that will maximise the protective power of nature through farming.
3. Decarbonise more homes through retrofit, delivering quality jobs, training and innovation using local supply chains.
4. Designate a new National Park to cover the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley.
5. Designate a new National Park to cover the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley.
6. Develop a Wales Community Food Strategy
7. Expand arrangements to create or significantly enhance green spaces.
8. Launch a new 10-year Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan for a zero-carbon economy.
9. Support 80 re-use and repair hubs in town centres.
10. Support cooperative housing, community-led initiatives, and community land trusts.
11. Work towards our new target of 45% of journeys by sustainable modes by 2040, setting more stretching goals where possible.

Opportunities for targeted interventions

There is a wealth of interventions that are known to have an impact on supporting a more resilient Wales.

The Independent Assessment used to help inform the third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) assesses 61 risks and opportunities from climate change to Wales, including to business, infrastructure, housing, the natural environment, our health and risks from the impacts of climate change internationally. Risks categorised as “More action needed” and “Further investigation” are more urgent than “Watching brief” and “Sustain current action.” Of these 61 risks and opportunities, more action is needed in Wales now to address 32 of them, with sustaining current action only deemed appropriate in five cases. Of the 61, six issues are deemed to be both a risk and opportunity, four of which are associated with the natural environment and each of these require more action or further investigation. There are also eight opportunities that could arise from climate change in Wales, with half of these also related to the natural environment.[15]

We should place nature’s recovery at the centre of decision making:

• Develop the assessment of ecosystem resilience
• Effective ecosystem management
• Build on Wales’s policy framework
• Optimising regulation
• Build wider engagement

Use the DISRUPT framework:

• Design for the future
• Incorporate digital technology
• Sustain and preserve what is already there
• Rethink the business model
• Use waste as a resource
• Prioritise regenerative resources
• Team up to create joint value

We should consider our role in creating a well-being economy[16], that is circular and regenerative, fair and just for people and the planet. Doughnut economics[17] describes a situation where we improve economic, environmental, cultural and social well-being within ecological limits. Stocks of natural resources can be safeguarded and enhanced through decarbonisation, improved land management, recognising biodiversity as an asset and through addressing resource-use and impacts. In order to achieve long term sustainable changes to travel habits – to secure a green economy – the culture change needed to achieve modal shift (a shift to active travel for short journeys and public transport for longer journeys), might be best focussed on children and young people.

There is a broad spectrum of actions which can help to build ecosystem resilience. This includes preventing and reversing biodiversity declines, habitat restoration and expansion, diversification of agriculture and forestry and improvements to the condition of soil, air and water quality. For example:

• Contribute to achieving the North Wales Energy Strategy.
• Improving buffer areas and stepping stone sites to support and sustain designated sites.
• Increasing tree and green infrastructure coverage, which can support with future urban cooling, act as natural water management systems to reduce occurrences of flooding as well as increasing green spaces.

We could also do more to increase public services’ understanding of climate vulnerability:

• Utilising new tools for local authorities to help with climate risk evaluation and plan development.
• Building adaptation into all investment decisions and business planning within services, not just confined to flood mitigation in the local plan.
• Improving understanding and developing a common language on climate risk to enhance the quality of decision-making and support adaptation works.
• Building a long-term record of climate events in the locality in a systematic way, which records not only events but consequences and costs, helps to provide a solid basis on which to justify action and investment.
• Through collaboration build community resilience to the impacts of climate change, being felt now and increasing trends in next 5-10 years.
• Contribute or/and lead the research into assessing current community resilience to impacts of climate change and the projections for next 5-10 years
• Developing action plan for addressing gap/s discovered
• Delivering action plan working with partners and stakeholders

It will not be possible to prevent all flooding; there is therefore a need to use a range of approaches to not only reduce the risk where possible, but to adapt our communities and infrastructure to be prepared for severe weather events and rising sea levels. This may involve improving defences, but equally will also mean better management of land and water across catchments to reduce run-off, intelligent planning eg updated TAN15 planning guidance and retro-fitting of our towns and cities and, in some cases, creating space for water and recognising the need to move out of harm’s way. We should consider:

• Improving understanding of flood risk management and awareness different roles and responsibilities across different organisations, using multiple and innovative methods visual and arts/languages.
• Taking a strategic approach to flood risk within the Local Development Plan and tools within strategic environmental assessment (Sustainability Appraisal)
• Identifying key communities which need to take action to help them prepare and become more resilient to flood risk (in a practical sense but also to support them with any challenges that might experience to their health and mental health as a result of flood risk).

Key questions and areas for further research:

• Challenges and opportunities associated with driving a green economy. For example, waste and a circular economy – are we on track?
• Food challenges and how these will affect food poverty, also the impact some farming practices can have on biodiversity, especially those which cause biodiversity loss which in turn makes farming more challenging. We need more analysis of food-related challenges for our areas over the long term and the links to health and cultural well-being.
• Climate risk vulnerability and resilience of our organisations and communities
• What is the projection for emissions across all sectors in the two areas?

[1] Government Office for Science (2021). Trend Deck

[2] Natural Resources Wales (2020). State of Natural Resources Report (SoNaRR) for Wales 2020. https://naturalresources.wales/evidence-and-data/research-and-reports/state-of-natural-resources-report-sonarr-for-wales-2020/?lang=en

[3] https://naturalresources.wales/about-us/what-we-do/green-spaces/urban-trees/?lang=en

[4] The areas that make up the Local Authority territorial dataset on carbon collated by the UK Government each year are: industry, commercial, public sector, agriculture, domestic, transport and Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF).

[5] Government Office for Science (2021). Trend Deck

[6] https://www.lgcplus.com/politics/climate-change/climate-change-adapting-to-the-future-19-05-2021/

[7] Dr Sara MacBride-Stewart & Dr Alison Parken (2021). Inequality in a Future Wales: Areas for action in work, climate and demographic change. The findings are summarised within a Summary Report and ‘Bite-size’ version with Easy Read and BSL versions available also. For those who are interested in the more detailed analysis you can access the full technical report.

[8] WWF Cymru (2020). A Welsh Food System Fit For Future Generations A report by the Sustainable Places Research Institute at Cardiff University, commissioned by WWF Cymru. https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/welsh-food-system-fit-future-generations.

[9] WWF Cymru (2020). A Welsh Food System Fit For Future Generations A report by the Sustainable Places Research Institute at Cardiff University, commissioned by WWF Cymru. https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/welsh-food-system-fit-future-generations.

[10] Government Office for Science (2021). Trend Deck

[11] Wales Centre for Public Policy (2021). Briefing on well-being and the impact of Covid-19 and Brexit.

[12] UNEP (2011), ‘ Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication’ (advance copy available from http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy).

[13] Welsh Government (2021). Beyond Recycling: A strategy to make the circular economy in Wales a reality. https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2021-03/beyond-recycling-strategy-document.pdf

[14] Wales Centre for Public Policy (2021). Briefing on well-being and the impact of Covid-19 and Brexit.

[15] https://www.ukclimaterisk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CCRA-Evidence-Report-Wales-Summary-Final.pdf

[16] https://weall.org/faq#what-would-a-wellbeing-economy-do

[17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkbk8HLx63M&t=129s